A Tale of Four Siblings
by fanfictioneer101
Summary: Small, seemingly unimportant changes can change the course of a story drastically. That is common knowledge. How they change the story depends on the changes. Each story is different.
1. Buster Call and a Pineapple Headed Man

**Disclaimer  
**

 **Random person: Do you own One Piece?**

 **Me: Do I look like Eiichiro Oda to you?**

 **Random person: I don't know. I've never seen him before.**

 **Me: (Sighs) No.**

* * *

 **Buster Call and the Man with a Pineapple-Like Head**

* * *

There was smoke in the night sky, fires ablaze on an island in the West Blue. Five Navy ships opened fire on everything on shore without any signs of stopping. A shipwreck sank down to the bottom of the ocean taking the human bodies with it. A lone schooner bobbed up and down on the waves, far enough to be safe from the deafening cannon blasts, giant explosions, and flying debris. On board the small ship stood a man with a blonde, pineapple-like hairstyle.

Marco the Phoenix furrowed his brow, "This is below you, Sengoku." The cannons continued the fierce assault on the island, as the fires raged and the giant tree in the center toppled over, crushing buildings and smaller trees below it. He gazed at the wrecked island and turned away from the flaming scene when suddenly he felt a small presence. Marco walked towards the bow of the ship and looked overboard. He spotted a small girl sitting in a sailboat, her knees against her chest with her arms wrapped around them. The sounds of her sobs reached him, and he clenched his fists, _Why would the Navy do something like this?_ He jumped off his ship and landed on the sailboat. The girl looked up through fearful eyes to find a man with pineapple hair.

"It's okay," Marco assured her, "I'm not one of them-yoi."

He walked to the girl and picked her up. She tried to struggle but Marco calmed her down, "I'm not going to hurt you-yoi."

Then he heard the whiz of a cannon ball and flew upwards, narrowly avoiding the large projectile. One of the ships had found them. Marco scowled and retreated to his ship, yelling at the crew he had come with to get going. The crewmen frantically obeyed his orders, panicking as a stream of cannonballs made its way to their ship. Marco landed on deck, the little girl fearfully clinging to him. The other battleships began to head towards the smaller ship, however, the schooner already had an enormous lead over the marine ships. No matter how hard they tried, there was no hope. The ship soon disappeared from the horizon, along with one of their targets.

* * *

Sengoku was not in a good mood today. First of all, he had received the news that the last Oharan, Nico Robin, had been rescued by Marco the Phoenix. Then the Five Elder Stars had ordered him to capture the survivor immediately and now Garp sat in his office, eating senbei and laughing like a buffoon. In front of him stood the five Vice Admirals that had been present during the buster call of Ohara, including Sakazuki and Kuzan, saluting him promptly. The recently-appointed Fleet Admiral plopped down on his chair and heaved a sigh as he shuffled the stack of papers in his hands and set it on his desk.

"The higher ups are not very happy about the result of the buster call. In fact, they demand we capture her without fail, so..."

He lifted up the paper from the top of the stack, revealing the information on the front. Sakazuki's features darkened, while Kuzan and the other three marines stared in shock.

Garp dropped the senbei he was holding and his eyes widened, "Huh?"

Sengoku lowered the poster, "They were very adamant about Nico Robin's capture."

He set the paper on his desk, "For now, on the orders of the Five Elder Stars, you are to start searching all West Blue islands. They couldn't have gotten too far."

The Vice Admirals left the room one by one. Kuzan was the last to leave as he glanced at the poster. Sengoku noticed this and walked towards the lower rank marine.

"It seems as if an amount like that would be considered over the top for a little girl," The Vice Admiral commented.

Sengoku patted him on the shoulder,"We must capture her..."

 **Wanted**

 **Dead or Alive**

 **Nico Robin**

 **300,000,000 belis**

"...at any cost..."

* * *

The News Coo flew in the sky above, dropping newspapers. Heads were buried in the papers, and the people all talked about one incident. The Devil Child.

"Did you hear?" A man asked his friend.

"Yeah," he replied, "I can't believe it."

"I know, an eight-year-old girl?"

"She did what even the most feared pirate in the West Blue couldn't," Another man added, "It's only logical."

"But still," The first man's gaze dropped to the newspaper in his hands, "It just seems so absurd. I mean, she is just a child. How can a child do something like this? It's impossible!"

A woman nearby turned to them, "170 million belis is nowhere near enough for this child. What she did is just...frightening."

She pointed to the picture on the front page,"Fifteen battleships headed by Vice Admirals...gone in an instant. A child like that shouldn't be allowed to freely roam the seas. She should be executed immediately!"

* * *

The girl had fallen asleep at some point after they had escaped marine cannon fire. Now Marco sat down in the infirmary, beside her thinking of the island in flames. She had minor cuts and bruises but nothing serious. His brows furrowed, _why would the Navy destroy an island?_ He thought of it all night until he finally decided to get some air. Though it was morning, the sky was still dark and there was a cool breeze. He sighed deeply, enjoying the morning air in silence, being extra careful not to disturb his crewmates' sleep. Then he heard gentle footsteps coming from the infirmary. Marco instantly activated his haki, but then relaxed when he found out the identity of the intruder. The pirate smiled softly as the little girl from the burning island snuck out of the infirmary.

"Where do you plan on going-yoi?" he questioned, startling the child.

Marco turned around to face her and widened blue irises filled with fright met his eyes. The Whitebeard division commander sighed inwardly.

"Didn't I say I wouldn't hurt you-yoi?"

She was obviously surprised at his words. He gestured for the young girl to come forward, and she did so reluctantly.

The cool breeze suddenly changed into a strong head wind.

Marco smiled at the young girl, "The name's Marco, what's yours-yoi?"

"Robin."

"Are you alright-yoi?"

"Yes."

Marco's gaze shifted from her to the ocean, "Can you tell me what was going on back there-yoi?"

Robin was silent. She herself wasn't even sure what had happened back on Ohara, but the girl told the pirate everything. In the end, although he remained impassive, Marco began to lament over the poor child's situation. Even one of the blues is no place for a child, and he realized just how much he pitied Robin. Even if he was a pirate, he still had a heart. He thought of the many people out on the seas just waiting to take advantage of kids like her. Then he thought of the Celestial Dragons and twisted his face at the thought of slave traders getting to her first. Marco bent down to face the child, a gentle smile on his face.

"You don't have anywhere to go, right-yoi?

She nodded.

The blonde haired pirate grinned, "Then I'll take you to my Oyaji-yoi."

"Oyaji?"

"You may have heard of him. His name is Edward Newgate-yoi," He walked over to the deck and stopped to face her one last time. "Better known as Whitebeard-yoi."

* * *

It had been a month after Marco rescued Robin from the marines. They had left the West Blue over three weeks ago and had stopped at Fishman Island two weeks later. Following Whitebeard's Vivre Card, they managed to make it to the _Moby Dick_ in no more than a week. Over the time the young girl had spent on the ship, she had become more relaxed around the crew. Robin respected Marco especially because he had shown that pirates weren't all that bad, and in the process, saved her. Today Marco rested against the ship mast and told the eight-year-old stories about the days before the Great Pirate Age when suddenly the lookout yelled.

"Commander Marco! I see theMoby Dick!"

His fellow crewmates cheered, finally happy to be back amongst their fellow Whitebeards again. Marco smiled at Robin softly, "Looks like I'm gonna have to end the story here-yoi," He turned his attention towards the Moby Dick _._ "It's time for you to meet Oyaji-yoi."

* * *

 _Marco's Oyaji is a big man,_ Robin thought as she faced the strongest man in the world for the very first time.

"Gurararara, so this is the brat you were talking about Marco," Whitebeard said. His attention shifted over to Robin, "You're that brat they said sunk fifteen battleships. Did you really do that?"

Robin shook her head, and Whitebeard frowned slightly.

"What are you good at? Can you fight?"

The little girl shifted her stance, "I studied hard to become an archaeologist. And I also ate the Hana Hana no mi." To demonstrate, she waved her hand and several arms sprouted out of her palm. The pirates observed with interest, acknowledging the fruit's potential.

Whitebeard chuckled, "So you have an ability? With enough training, it can become a very useful power."

The strongest man in the world extended his large hand towards the small child, "From what Marco told me, your home and family were destroyed by the navy's brutal attack. A child is incapable of living on their own. Not on this vast ocean."

The eight-year-old gazed at the legendary pirate, wondering where this was going.

Edward Newgate held his hand out to the child, "You seem to need a place to call home. And I am not one to turn my back to a child in need of a home. Join us, become a part of our family."

Nico Robin stared at the enormous palm for a second, then took it.

She could hear Jaguar D. Saul's voice echoing in her head.

 _No one in this world was born to be alone_

All young Robin could do to stop tears from streaming down her cheeks was smile.

* * *

Robin woke up early the next morning. Nightmares of Buster Call had plagued the eight-year old's dreams. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she remembered her painful separation from her mom. She yearned to hold her hand once again, this time much longer than before. Her heart ached for the familiar halls of the Tree of Knowledge or Saul's odd and merry laughs. Everything had been taken away from her, which made her feel isolated.

 _So laugh. When you're having a hard time just laugh._

She thought of doing as he had once told her, but then realized it wasn't necessary. It dawned on Robin that she didn't need to pretend to be having a good time. Now she would no longer be teased or despised. She had found a home or rather, a home had found her. The little girl put a genuine smile on her face and stepped out of bed, ready to begin the new chapter of her life.

* * *

 **A/N:This took a while to write. I don't have much to say, except maybe this part was originally meant to be combined with chapter 2. I'm new to this site, so I'm still trying to figure out how to use it. This chapter might not have come out like I wanted it. You need not review although constructive criticism is very appreciated.**

 **Revision A/N: Just a few tweaks here and there, a few things worded differently, nothing major. I hope I got most, if not all, of the puncuation errors.**

 **Next:Three Boys and a Guy Named...Thatch?**

 **Revised 5/30/16**


	2. Three boys and a Guy Named Thatch

**Disclaimer**

 **I had a long talk with my therapist over ownership of One Piece.  
He kept telling me I don't own it and I kept telling him he was wrong.  
When I flipped his desk over, he called security.  
Long story short, I need a new therapist.  
Anyone willing to fill up the spot? It's $600 per session, anyone?**

* * *

 **Three Boys and a Guy Named...Thatch?**

* * *

 _"Did you know that if we exchanged cups of sake, we can become brothers?"_

 _Ace poured sake into the three cups._

 _"Brothers?" Luffy asked, "Really?"_

 _Ace continued, "When we become pirates, we may not end up in the same crew, but the bond of brotherhood we share will never die! No matter where we are, or what we do, this is one bond we can never break!"_

 _Sabo and Luffy raised their cups._

 _"Starting today, we're brothers!"_

 _All three cups met each other with a barely audible clink._

 _"Yeah!"_

* * *

He was in a bar when he heard the news. Apparently, there was a huge fire right outside the Goa Kingdom's walls. Luckily for him, he was inside at the time of the fire, so he went for a little stroll. The pirate wasn't expecting many people being around, so it really surprised him to find a blonde boy, unconscious and sprawled on the ground. Gathering the child into his arms, he dashed towards the nearest hospital.

The unknown boy woke up a few minutes after Thatch brought him to the hospital. His eyes were wide and frightened, but he seemed to be afraid of something else.

"Old man! Where am I!"

"In the hospital." Thatch replied.

Sabo grabbed Thatch's arm, startling him,"Old man, please! My brothers are in that fire! Please take me to them! Please!"

The boy's pleas reached the older man's heart, so he carried the boy on his back, "Okay."

* * *

They reached the gates in no time. Guards patrolled the areas and stood at the gate.

Thatch frowned, "Don't they know there are people in that fire?"

"That's just it!" Sabo cried, "The nobles here are so rotten, they are willing to burn down the homes of the homeless just to impress others."

"Don't worry, we'll get your brothers out of that fire."

He jumped off the roof they were perched on and landed onto the ground. Thatch sprinted towards the wall, leaping off his right foot and grabbed a secure handhold.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely save your brothers. I give you my word!"

* * *

Dadan dashed into the flames engulfing the Gray Terminal, "Dammit Luffy!"

The bandit had planned on leaving the seven-year-old with Mogra and Dogra, then going back to rescue Ace from Bluejam, but was forced to change plans after Luffy had sneaked off to go after his older brother himself.

She came to a halt as rubble blocked the path she was heading down.

"Damn!"

Dadan turned left, hoping neither Ace nor Luffy had done something very stupid.

* * *

Ace slammed into a pile of debris. Bluejam smirked and raised his sword over his head. The sword slashed Ace's chest, blood quickly seeping through the new opening. He writhed in agony as pain racked his body mercilessly. Bluejam cackled, relishing the boy's cries of anguish.

"Apparently, no one told you _not_ to mess with adults, brat!" He spat the last word out like it was a revolting piece of food.

However, while he watched Ace attempt to rise but fail, a small child launched himself into the air. His arm flew into the sky, before rocketing back and nailing the target right in the back. The pirate toppled over and Ace barely managed to roll out of the towering man's way.

"Lu-Luffy!"

Rubbing his back, Bluejam rose once again, eyes filled to the brim with flaming fury, "You little..." He didn't finish his sentence, instead opting to vault towards the child, saber poised to strike. Luffy ducked, escaping the menace, and rolled into Ace, knocking the injured boy down. Bluejam crashed into the earth, headfirst, and crushed his nose.

"Ace!" The younger brother grasped his hand, pulling the bleeding boy up, "Are you alright?"

"Peachy," He rolled his eyes, "Not like there's a giant slash on my chest bleeding profusely."

The boy winced as he was stabilized by his straw hat carrying brother. Neither boy noticed the flying sword until it was too late.

"Luffy!"

The saber pierced through his chest. The boy raised a hand to feel the cold handle of the sword. He opened his mouth to say something but dropped before he could. Tears rushed down the freckled child as he gazed at his lifeless brother.

Ace turned towards Bluejam, clutching his bleeding chest, "You bastard! I'll kill you!"

Bluejam smirked, "You've got it wrong kid."

He withdrew a large knife hidden in a pocket, resting its razor-sharp edge on Ace's neck, ready to slit it open, "I'll kill _you._ "

Ace growled, he wasn't about to give up this easily.

Before the ten-year-old could do anything, Bluejam collapsed. The knife flew out of his hand, and a slash appeared moments later, blood splattering everywhere. A man with a brown pompadour hairstyle stood behind the pirate, in his hand an unsheathed sword which was coated with the crimson liquid.

 _When did he get there?_

"Ace!" A familiar voice yelled, snapping the boy out of his thoughts.

The boy turned around in surprise, "Sabo?"

"Ace, you're hurt. We sh-"

"Nevermind me, we need to help Luffy!"

Sabo turned towards his other brother and gasped, "Luffy!"

The two boys dashed for the younger boy.

"Luffy, Luffy, wake up!" Sabo screamed.

No response from the straw hat wearing kid.

"Luffy!" Ace cried. "Dammit, it's my fault! He came to save me and...and..."

The stranger knelt down next to them, assessing Luffy's injury. He frowned deeply, to the horror of the brothers. The man unsheathed his sword and sliced the saber until only a small part stuck out. He slid off his brown coat, laying the seven-year-old onto it, and cradling the slightly moving lump in his arms.

"Go!" He yelled at the other two, "Run ahead!"

"I'm not leaving Luffy!" Ace screamed, rushing towards the younger boy but was stopped by a tug on his collar.

"We don't have a choice!" Sabo shouted, "We must go!"

"But-"

"Trust me, Luffy will be alright."

The freckled boy clenched his fist, before nodding and following his blonde brother out of the flaming Gray Terminal. The stranger got up and used his haki to find the fastest way out.

* * *

"Ace! Sabo!" Dadan yelled in relief, "Wait! Where's Luffy?"

The two gritted their teeth, bowing their heads and trying to conceal the flowing tears. Dadan's eyes widened, "No. It can't be. It can't-"

"Hey, brats!"

The two brothers whipped their heads towards the somewhat familiar voice. Sure enough, it was the brown-haired man with a still Luffy in his arms. The brothers rejoiced at the younger boy's safe arrival but paused as they tried to discern the man's words.

"Run!" He was shouting, "Run! Run!" The three wasted no time in obeying those orders, legs kicking into full gear. Minutes after the Gray Terminal disappeared from view, a large explosion rocked the mountain.

"Keep running!" The stranger urged the group.

They didn't cease until they made it back to Dadan's shack.

* * *

Many tears were shed when Luffy finally came to. After an emotional reunion, Sabo turned to the relaxed stranger.

"Say, old man, what's you name?"

"Thatch."

"Thatch?"

"Thatch."

"Thatch."

"Thatch."

"Tha-"

"For God's sake Sabo!" Ace yelled at his brother.

Thatch chuckled and Ace glared at him. The boy didn't trust him at all. Not one bit. Luffy then asked for the details of the battle which the freckled boy surrendered. While they shared stories, Thatch left to find Dadan. The orange-haired bandit glared at the approaching man.

"What do you want?"

"It's odd," he began as he sat down on a large rock, "Why would a bandit be taking care of three kids?"

"Why would a complete stranger save those kids?"

Thatch smiled, "Because that blonde kid's determination touched me. His name's Sabo, right?"

Dadan grumbled in reply, what on earth was this man up to?

"Say, could you tell me more about those kids?"

She was startled by his request. What would a pirate gain from learning about three kids? It bothered her in many ways.

"Why should I tell you? What business do you have with those brats?"

"They interest me."

That comment really surprised the bandit, "Why?"

"They've got spunk. Especially that freckled kid, he's something else."

Thatch turned to face her completely, "He reminds me of somebody."

"Who?"

The brown-haired man smirked, "Have you ever heard of the Whitebeard pirates?"

"Who hasn't?"

"I'm a part of that crew."

Dadan's cigarette fell out her mouth, "What?"

"We used to fight with Gold Roger a lot. Over time, we became more than just rivals. That kid reminds me of Roger, I really have no idea why."

At this point, Dadan decided it was safe to let him know the truth, "That's because Ace is Gold Roger's son."

Now it was Thatch's turn to be surprised, then he smiled, "Ah, so that's it. Roger has a son. So what about the other two?"

"I don't know much about the blonde one, but I do know that Luffy's grandfather was the one that brought both Luffy and Ace here."

"His grandfather?"

"You've probably heard of him. He's the famous Vice Admiral Garp."

"His grandfather is Garp?"

Dadan nodded, "Once in a while, he comes to check on them. It hasn't been long since his last visit."

Thatch grinned, "That's impressive."

"Luffy's straw hat?"

"Yes. I remember a certain man who wore a straw hat just like that one, then one day he made a voyage to the East Blue and it suddenly disappeared, along with his left arm."

"So you think he's connected to Luffy?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask the kid."

 _He's not so bad,_ Dadan thought.

"There's something I would like to ask you," Thatch said, interrupting her thoughts.

* * *

Much to the annoyance of the child, Luffy wasn't allowed to romp around with his brothers for five weeks. Makino showed up a couple of times in order to treat him. While she was here, the barmaid had gotten acquainted with Thatch.

Ace noticed that Thatch had not left yet and he was quite suspicious when the pirate approached the three after Ace and Sabo's daily hunt. They were gathered around Luffy's bed, telling him everything he missed. He was the only one of the brothers who didn't thank Thatch, still not trusting the swordsman.

Thatch grinned at the three children, "You guys, what would you like to be when you grow up?"

"A pirate!" Sabo and Luffy shouted simultaneously. Ace just looked away.

"Well, how would you like to start early?"

All three children stared at him in confusion.

"Y'know, join the crew I'm in?"

"Huh? But I can't become the Pirate King if I'm on someone else's crew!" Luffy whined.

"Don't worry, you can leave to create your own crew when you get older. It's your choice."

"What about Dadan?" Sabo questioned him.

"I've already talked to her about it. That guy from before is still alive and we both agreed you three will be safer if you come with me."

"What about Garp?" Ace asked, glaring at the man.

"C'mon. Do you think he would allow you to be pirates even if you didn't come with us? He'd probably make you into marines."

 _He probably would,_ Ace thought, then growled at the pirate for making a valid point.

"Besides, the guys in my crew are fun! You should meet Marco and Vista and Jozu and you can even meet Oyaji!"

"Oyaji?" Sabo asked.

"Yes, he's a legendary pirate who fought with Gold Roger!"

"Really?" Stars appeared in Luffy's eyes.

"Yes. So, will you come?"

"Okay," Sabo nodded.

"Of course!" Luffy yelled and began to chant the word adventure.

Only Ace gave Thatch a cold look, "My brothers may trust you, but I sure don't. I'm just coming along to take care of them."

"Whatever you say," Thatch answered which made Ace glared at him even harder.

"We'll leave as soon as Luffy can walk, okay?"

"Yeah!" the two other boys yelled in excitement. Thatch watched as Ace wandered off, still very pissed.

 _Son of Roger, eh?_ He grinned inwardly, _Oyaji will be very interested in him._

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaaaaaaand I'm done. Wow, that took longer than I imagined. I'm finally done with this chapter, and I would have been done a lot sooner if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't save my progress. I usually need the help of autosave or some sort of reminder to save. Now that I have learned my lesson, I want to thank you all for your reviews. Therefore, I would like to ask for more constructive criticism. It really helped last time.**

 **Revision A/N: I added a fight scene that I originally wanted in the story, but canceled because I forgot to save my progress. Fixed some punctuation and stuff like that. If you pick up any errors I missed, feel free to tell me.**

 **Next up:Meet the Whitebeards.**

 **Revised: 5/30/16**


	3. Meet the Whitebeards

**Disclaimer**

 **What if I told you Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece?**

* * *

Meet the Whitebeards

* * *

Ace glared at everything. Ace glared at the ship when they had first approached it, Ace glared at all the pirates surrounding him, but most of all, Ace glared at Thatch. He hated the pirate for taking he and his brothers away from Dawn Island. It had been a month since the three brothers had left the Goa Kingdom. The people of Foosha Village had been concerned about Luffy. Woop Slap was especially insistent that the three stay, given that if they went off with a pirate, they would be considered criminals besides their ages.

 _"Are you sure you three will be alright?" Makino asked gently as the mayor continued his loud rant._

 _"Yeah," Luffy answered. "Thatch is a good guy!"_

 _She smiled at the small boy's response, Luffy had always been a good judge of character._

 _"Don't worry!" A voice said behind her. Everyone turned around to face Thatch. "I'll take good care of them. Besides, Oyaji really wants to meet you three."_

 _The three children followed Thatch onto the sailboat. As they began to drift farther and farther away from the island, Luffy turned and began to wave._

 _"You guys just wait and see! I'm gonna be the pirate king!"_

 _"We'll be really strong too!" Sabo added._

 _Ace couldn't help himself. "And become really infamous!"_

 _Thatch glanced at him with a grin, and Ace's fury began to build up. One of these days I'll wipe that smirk off his stupid face, the ten-year-old said to himself._

"Oi, Ace! He's talking to you!" Sabo elbowed his brother, snapping him out of his flashback.

Ace glared at the large man in front of him, "What did you say, ossan?"

"Gurararara! Thatch was right, you have some nerve brat! I'd expect nothing less from the son of Roger!"

Ace clenched his fists, "How did you know?"

"Thatch told me. Got a problem with that, brat?"

"Screw you!" Ace leapt up, fist positioned to sock the huge man.

Sabo sprang for his brother, but missed him, "Ah! Ace wait-"

As soon as the words left Sabo's mouth, a blonde man blocked Ace's fists and restrained him.

"Oi, don't go attacking Oyaji like that-yoi." The man said calmly.

"Gurarararara! Like that brat could hurt me with his puny fists!" Whitebeard told him, which infuriated Ace even more. "Just let him be."

The man let Ace go, and his brothers quickly rushed over to him.

"What did you do that for, Ace?" Luffy asked, confused as to why his brother tried to punch the huge old man.

"Baka! That's Whitebeard! Why would you do that?" Sabo scolded Ace.

He got to his feet, ignoring his brothers and glaring at the pirate captain.

"Alright! I've heard a lot about you three brats and you're very interesting. So I would like you to join my crew and become my sons."

"Hold it!" Ace shouted, intensely staring at the old man. "I thought we didn't have to join your crew. It's our choice remember?"

"Gurararara! You're very independent. I like that, brat. Okay, it's your choice, you can join the crew whenever you want."

And with that, everyone dispersed. Oblivious to them was a single eye, spying on the meeting. It disappeared without anyone noticing. Everyone, except Luffy.

* * *

"Ahhhh! Where is he!" Sabo ran around in panic. "I can't find him, he's nowhere to be found!"

"He's probably been abducted! I knew we shouldn't have come, I knew it!" Ace yelled in rage.

"Stop regretting coming here and start helping me look for him," His blonde brother dragged the black-haired boy out the door, who was still venting about the situation.

* * *

Luffy had wandered into an unknown room, looking for the mystery eyes.

"Hello?" The little boy called out. "Mystery eyes?"

No response, just eerie silence.

"I wonder what Ace and Sabo are doing right now. And Thatch and giant ossan."

"What are you doing in the women's quarters?" A soft voice asked him.

"Huh?" Luffy turned around to face the mystery voice. "It's you!"

At the source of the voice stood a tall girl with black hair, blue eyes, and a purple dress.

"You're the one with the mystery eyes!"

"Mystery eyes?"

"Yeah!" He answered excitedly. "The ones I saw on the deck!"

"You mean my devil fruit power?"

Luffy's eyes widened, "You have one too?"

"Yes," The mysterious girl answered. "The Hana Hana no mi. It allows me to sprout my body parts on any surface."

"Cool. Mine's the Gomu Gomu no mi! It made me a rubber human!"

"A rubber human? That's certainly an interesting power."

She walked towards him and sat on the bed next to him. Luffy also sat on the bed. "So you're part of the crew?"

"Yes,"

"Cool! I want to join the crew, but I also want to become the pirate king and have my own crew!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's my dream!"

She smiled at him, "My dream is to find a stone called the Rio Poneglyph."

"What's so special about a stone?"

"The Rio Poneglyph tells the story of the true history."

"History?"

"I come from a family of archaeologists."

"Oh."

She could tell he was still a bit confused, "Don't think about it too much."

"Okay! Say, what's your name?"

"Robin,"

"My name's Luffy, nice to meet you!"

Robin chuckled softly, "You know, you should probably get back to your brothers."

"Why don't you come meet my brothers! They'd want to meet you!"

She stood up, "Okay."

* * *

"I'll say this one more time. Where. Is. My. Brother?" Ace yelled at the man with a pineapple hairstyle.

"I don't know-yoi." He answered nonchalantly.

"Ace, enough yelling." Sabo grabbed his brother and dragged him away. "Let's just look for him."

"No, they have him captive somewhere!"

"He's probably just-"

"Yo!" said the straw hat wearing kid. He stood next to a tall girl probably around age seventeen or eighteen.

"Where the hell have you been!" Both kids yelled furiously at him.

"At least you're alright," Sabo mentioned as he raced to his brother.

"Baka! Why are you always like this?" Ace hit his brother in fury though the older boy was secretly relieved that he hadn't been captured.

"Ow! That hurt, Ace!" Luffy held the sore spot on his head.

Sabo turned his attention towards the girl standing next to him, "Luffy, who is she?"

"Oh, that's Robin! She helped me find you guys!"

"Ah, Robin. It's good you found him, this brat wouldn't leave me alone otherwise-yoi." Marco pointed towards Ace, who growled at him.

"It was just a coincidence, Marco-san," She told him.

"By the way, Oyaji was looking for you. Go see what he wants-yoi"

Robin nodded and headed for the stern. Marco turned towards the three boys, "Oh, and dinner's ready-yoi."

That was all it took to break up the arguing.

* * *

The next morning was rather casual for a pirate ship. Pirates walking to and fro in order to complete daily work, in no hurry at all. As soon as they came out of the men's quarters the three boys split up. Sabo questioned Thatch about their whereabouts now, Luffy hung out with the division commanders, and only Ace made his way towards the bow of the ship to isolate himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one seeking silence.

"What are you doing here?" Ace snarled at Robin. She looked up from her book, then dropped her gaze.

"Reading,"

The ten-year-old shot a glare at the older girl before turning away, hoping to find another quiet spot.

"Wait."

Ace stopped moving, "Huh?"

Robin closed her book and locked eyes with Ace, "Why do you hate everything so much?"

"None of your business!" He shouted in anger, then turned and stomped off.

She watched the boy leave and began to think. _I wonder why he became so angry. Does he not trust Oyaji?_

* * *

A week after, Ace wandered around on the ship, looking for something to do. The mood on the ship wasn't what he had expected, in fact, it was rather lax. The boy found Luffy and Ace sitting with Whitebeard, listening to his stories. He fumed at how quickly his brothers had dropped their guard and fallen victim to the pirate trap. Today, Ace had been extremely on the edge. He didn't know why, nor did he intend to find out, but it was beginning to bother him.

 _Why do I feel this way?_ He asked himself. _What's wrong with me?_

Suddenly a shout jolted him out of his thoughts, "Oyaji! Oyaji!" Yelled a subordinate who's name he didn't know.

"What's wrong?" Whitebeard asked his subordinate.

"It's a pirate ship!"

"Just a pirate ship?"

"Well...yeah."

"Gurarararara! Don't worry about some snot-nosed brat who thinks he can stand up to me."

Marco stepped forward, "I'll take care of this ship."

Ace raised an eyebrow, shouldn't they be worried about attacking pirates?

Marco walked away, and life progressed as usual. Then the sound of cannonballs whizzing through the air, some landed in the water, others buried themselves into the Moby Dick. Pirates swung over landing on the deck, yelling battle cries. Without warning, sand rose up and gathered together until they formed a person. He was a tall man in his early thirties with slicked-back hair, and a white shirt and black slacks, complete with a red scarf and red pirate captain coat worn over his shoulders. Several golden rings with different colored gemstones decorated his fingers, everything about this particular pirate said rich and expensive. A smug look crossed his face as he stared upon Whitebeard.

"Kuhahahaha! I've finally found you, Whitebeard. Now I'll kill you and take the rank of the strongest man in the world! Then I will become the Pirate King!"

"No way!" A voice yelled at him.

Everyone stared at the seven-year-old who had uttered those two words.

"I'll be the Pirate King!" Luffy shouted, a defiant look in his eyes.

"Kid, do you know who I am? I am Crocodile, the man with a 60,000,000 beli bounty. Even Whitebeard doesn't stand a chance!"

A few chuckles passed through the Whitebeards. Luffy responded by sticking his tongue out.

That was the last straw for Crocodile. He lunged towards Luffy and initiated the battle. The pirate groups clashed, bullets whizzing past, some met their target, others didn't.

"Desert Grande Espada!" Crocodile yelled furiously. A sand blade shot towards Luffy at incredibly high speeds. The said boy ran as fast as he could until Thatch intervened.

"Sorry, you can't kill this kid." Turning back to Luffy, who was now being helped up by his brothers, "Oi, get somewhere safe."

"No! That brat humiliated me and I will teach him a lesson!" He dematerialised as Thatch struck where he had once been. A large, tanned man attacked Thatch with a swing of his broadaxe. The brown-haired man clenched his teeth and shoved the huge man backwards. He stumbled and lost his balance, giving Thatch the opportunity to seek the three brothers.

Meanwhile, Ace was trembling with anger. In front of him stood Crocodile, smirking victoriously at Luffy's limp body.

"Luffy!" Sabo screamed.

"I'll kill you, bastard!" The black haired boy surged forward to challenge the pirate only to be tackled and wrestled to the ground by Sabo.

"Sabo, get off me!"

"No! We can't fight him, he's too strong!"

"But Lu-"

"Ace! Do you think Luffy would want you to throw your life away for him?"

Ace bit his lip, Sabo was right and he knew it. He got up and was met with the sight of Crocodile sprawled on the deck floor, now missing his left hand. A large gash spread across the middle of his face. Marco and Thatch stood over the unconscious man. Marco picked him up and calmly walked to the stern, Thatch rushed to towards the three boys.

"Oi, are you alright?" He glanced at Luffy and felt a twinge of guilt, _I wasn't fast enough._ He felt the little boy's heart, and a sigh of relief escaped him when he felt a small heartbeat.

"Now, let's take Luffy to the sickbay."

Ace and Sabo nodded, tears streaming down their cheeks.

* * *

Marco tossed the unconscious, bloody Crocodile, "Now the rest of you scram before I get angry-yoi. And take that scum with you-yoi."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Marco was ticked off. The pirates fled in a blink of an eye.

"Why so angry, Marco?" Vista asked playfully.

Marco turned towards his fellow pirates and told them what happened.

* * *

"Thank you for saving Luffy!" Sabo wailed. Thatch smiled reassuringly.

"I should have come earlier."

While Sabo blubbered about what could have happened, Ace sat in the corner suppressing his own feelings. At some point in time, he couldn't take it anymore and fled from the sickbay. He walked to the bow, still holding back all the emotions squirming inside of him, fighting to get out. Ace stared out to sea, wondering what Garp's reaction was to their sudden departure.

"What are you doing out here?"

He jumped upon hearing the voice, then turned around to face the perpetrator.

"You." He growled at Robin.

"Good evening to you too." She stood beside him and watched the stars in the night sky.

"Nights like this make me think of my home."

No response from the boy.

"Not everything was alright in my hometown, but there were things I'm grateful I had. I used to hang around the scholars. They were nice, they let me read books from their library. I also had a friend, his name was Jaguar D. Saul."

"D?"

"I don't know what it meant and neither did he."

"I have a 'D' in my name."

Her eyes widened, "Really?"

He nodded, "Luffy has one too, but Sabo doesn't."

She smiled, "That's nice to know."

"So why'd you come here? Did they force you here?"

Robin shook her head, and her face took on a blank expression, "My hometown was destroyed."

"By who?"

"The Navy."

"Why?"

"The scholars were convicted of a crime, but they only wanted to learn history. They never hurt anyone."

"Why was your whole hometown targeted?"

"I don't know, all I do know is that my mother and Saul were targets of the attack. I was a target too and I may have been killed if it wasn't for Marco."

Ace raised an eyebrow, "What did he do?"

"He saved my life. And now the navy is trying to hunt me down." She dropped her gaze from the sky's expanse to the rarely tranquil seas. "When Marco brought me to the Whitebeards, I had no home. But Oyaji said he would protect me. He gave me a home, a place to feel safe. He gave me hope for my future."

 _All this time..._ Realization shot across his body, coaxing the areas of his heart that had hardened and closed to open up.

He refused to talk with them, he never took part of their celebrations, he never even thanked them for saving his brothers.

 _All this time..._

Ace turned around and shot off. He sprinted across the deck and into the sickbay, never even giving a surprised Thatch a chance to talk before embracing him, all of his emotions finally flowing free.

Gratitude, grateful, appreciative. Those were the meaning of Ace's tears. The boy tried to speak, but words failed him. He just wept on Thatch's shoulder, unable to show his thanks in any other way.

* * *

Major changes had happened on the Moby Dick the following day. Ace actually replied when others said hello. He actually continued conversations. He had even started smile. It was when Ace called Whitebeard 'Oyaji' that Marco proceeded to call the ship doctor in a fit of panic. Only when Thatch convinced everyone that Ace had a change of heart did the pirates finally relax. Robin sat on a chair, engrossed in the book in her hands.

"Oi, Robin!" He called. She chuckled, it felt funny to hear him call her Robin and not 'you'.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for helping me get rid of my doubt."

"No problem."

Ace was about to add more when Sabo roughly patted him on the back.

"Finally! I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever chill out!"

"Yeah!" Luffy added.

"I would have eventually!" Ace yelled in outrage.

"So what you saying is you would let your guard down?" Sabo asked in mock surprise. Ace growled and tackled the other boy to the ground. Luffy decided to join in for fun. Robin watched the squirming pile of boys and giggled.

 _Ds are very interesting. I wonder how you will turn out._

Unbeknownst to the four, Whitebeard, Marco, and Thatch watched them from a distance.

"What do you think will become of those four?"

"I don't know, but it'll be something that'll shake the whole world," Marco replied.

Thatch smiled and nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **A/N: This one was really wordy, but I enjoy writing these so it was no problem. I think the story will focus on their childhood until about chapter 10. I spontaneously decided to add Crocodile in because...why not? It supports what I have planned for Alabasta. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Your reviews were really helpful and all around motivating. Now I'll go back to thinking of story ideas and creative disclaimers.**

 **Revision A/N: Barely anything was changed. Why did I even write this?**

 **Next: A mysterious intruder**

 **Revised 6/1/16**


	4. A Mysterious Stranger

**Disclaimer  
** **Announcer: And the winner to the Own One Piece for a Day Contest is...**

 **Me( _Telling a friend_ ): I should win, I entered a hundred times.**

 **Announcer: Random person!**

 **( _Random person starts dancing in the crowd)_**

 **Me: It was just for a day! Why universe?! Why do you hate me so much?!**

* * *

A Mysterious Intruder

"Ace! Sabo! Luffy! Get back here now!"

The trio sped away from the kitchen, seeking shelter from the wrath of the head chef.

"Thatch!" The three shouted in unison.

Thatch chuckled as the three hid behind them. Ever since Ace's change of heart, the brothers had become known troublemakers, bothering everyone from the cabin boys to Marco himself. The only people they didn't mess with was he, Oyaji, and Robin.

"If you don't want to get in trouble then don't bother others." he chided the three, but as usual, they didn't listen and ran off to annoy Marco, whom they liked to prank the most. Thatch grinned and turned to walk away, but before he could make it any further, a man stumbled out from below deck.

"Commander! There's a problem!"

Thatch frowned, "What?"

"We have a stowaway!"

* * *

A scrawny boy's fist met the face of an unnamed crew member, sending him flying.

"Oi kid, we don't wanna fight! We just wanna know what you're doin' on our ship!" Another man yelled.

Thatch calmly strolled towards the brawl between a few of their men and an apparent stowaway. He halted as he laid eyes on a gaunt figure wearing a dirty shirt and pants, a scruffy fur hat with black spots along the bottom and the rim rested atop his head. The young lad sidestepped one man's hand and grabbed another's, slamming him into the nearby wall. Two down. He hurled himself at the remaining three, twisting sideways and punching the man on his left flank with incredible force. It surprised the 4th division commander how quickly and easily he managed to take down the other two. The boy heavily panted and leaned against a wall, leading Thatch to believe that he had witnessed the full extent of the boy's power. He smiled to himself and walked out of the shadows, slowly and dramatically clapping.

"Wow, you're strong for a kid,"

The youth stared at him with a blank expression, then heaved himself up and readied for a second fight.

"Easy," Thatch held up his hands in surrender, but the boy did not seem to hear and launched his fist towards Thatch.

The swordsman caught the younger's fist, "You see, I'm not like those five you just fought. I want to avoid hurting you, so let's just talk."

Thatch let go of his hand and sat cross-legged on the floor, he gestured for the boy to do the same, "What's your name?"

The young fellow glared at him through cold, dark eyes.

"Not gonna tell me? Well, okay. How did you get here then?"

Again, no response, just a harsh stare.

"You're not gonna tell me anything, are you?"

He received yet another scowl from the young man. Thatch shrugged and rose up, offering the mysterious stranger a hand up.

"Okay then. You hungry?"

* * *

 _The wind is especially wild today,_ Thatch noted as he sauntered towards the kitchen. Spotting Marco, he winced at the sight of his face, marker graffiti scribbled all over it. The zoan devil fruit eater stomped past, muttering something about naps and brats. He watched the commander disappear into the men's quarters and wondered if he should be concerned about the boys' well-being.

He turned to face the stowaway trailing him, "That was just Marco. Don't worry, he doesn't always look like that."

They continued towards their destination in silence, "Most of the time..." He added under his breath. The two arrived at the kitchen where Thatch conversed with the cooks as the stranger practically inhaled his meal.

"So?" Thatch faced the newcomer.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "This grub is good."

He smirked and requested a meal for himself. After having a seat, he sampled the food himself.

Thatch slammed his palm onto the table, "Good? This stuff is incredible!"

As the swordsman polished off his plate, the boy seated adjacent of him gazed at him in wonder.

"So, why did you bring me up here?"

Thatch paused, mouth brimming with food then wholly digested his mouth's contents, "So now you speak. Might I know your name first?"

The teen froze, contemplating the dangers of revealing his name to Thatch, "Law," He finally spoke, "Trafalgar Law."

The older man's eyebrows arched in surprise, "Trafalgar? So you're that kid from the newspaper. I thought you looked familiar."

Law smirked, "So you've heard of me?"

"Lately, we've been very interested in troublemaking brats such as yourself," He leaned back in his chair, "In fact, we've got three on our ship right now."

The youth's eyes narrowed, "Is this an upstart orphanage of some sort?"

A chuckle escaped Thatch's lips, causing Law to eye the pirate with confusion, "No, this is a pirate ship. We don't take care of orphans."

"Oh,"

A long stretch of undisturbed silence passed, neither person uttering a word. A cook ambled over to gather their plates, then moseyed along to wash the dishes. Thatch idly drummed his fingers on the table. Law's gaze stayed fixated upon a spot on the wooden table.

"How did you get here?"

Law looked up, unfazed by the question, "I got on your ship when that pirate ship attacked it."

Thatch gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, relaxing after a while. The memory of Crocodile wasn't exactly a fond one. Upon seeing his reaction, the teenager quickly changed the subject.

"You still haven't answered my question."

Thatch's expression changed, "Ah, but of course."

The man rose, gesturing for Law to follow. He opened the door, sounds of joy and laughter immediately greeted the two. Thatch stepped out and Law pursued him, wondering where he was being taken to.

"The reason I brought you up here..."

They approached a large crowd of pirates surrounding one person. He was a muscular man with a white moustache. Law gaped at his large body, this man was, at least, three times bigger than the average human. _It can't be..._ he told himself, _It can't possibly be him._

"...is so you could meet Oyaji."

Law continued to gawk at the huge man, his mouth ajar. Thatch chuckled to himself, neither Robin nor the brothers had reacted to Oyaji like Law did. He proceeded to advance towards the old man, clearing his throat as he neared Whitebeard.

"Oyaji,"

The legendary pirate captain looked down at his subordinate, "Yes, what is it, my son?"

Law, who's legs stopped working a long time ago, continued to stare at him, not sure if he was supposed to be in awe or quaking in his boots. Not that he was wearing any boots. But now wasn't the time to be contemplating what shoes he wore, the teen regained his composure and the feeling in his legs came back, to his relief. Whitebeard's attention was now on the skinny teen, a frown evident on his face. The kid looked unhealthy, slight bags visible underneath his eyes.

"Does this have something to do with the strange brat on board my ship?" Whitebeard questioned Thatch, who nodded in reply.

Brat? Law bristled, he did not like being called a brat. The youth shot Whitebeard a glare so deadly that if looks were weapons, the Yonko would have been impaled with several blades. His fists balled up, anger spilling out of the secure mug that was him . Being called a brat was so...degrading. Even if the man before him was one of the most powerful pirates in history, Law could not forgive him for looking down on him. No, he **would not** forgive him.

"Why so angry, brat?" The pirate spoke again. A low growl could be heard coming from the teen, still scowling at Whitebeard. Then, he shook his head, his temper subsiding and faced the New World veteran.

"My name is Trafalgar Law, and I don't like being called a brat,"

His voice dropped to a low, threatening level, "Got a problem with that, old man?"

* * *

 **A/N: And now I'll end it here, 'cause cliffhangers are fun! Though I will be on a one-week hiatus, so I guess it won't be fun this time. Honestly, I can't find a better place to end this chapter, whether it has anything to do with writing stuff off the top of my head or being to lazy to write more. Thank you for your reviews, they really inspire me to write more of these, though I would write more anyway. As for Law, I really don't know what I'm gonna do with him right now like I said I've been writing anything that comes to mind. More people will show up, well, until chapter 10. Enough jabbering, 'till next week folks. I mean the week after that.**

 **Next, next week: Paramecias and Haki**


	5. Paramecias and Haki

**Disclaimer**

 **Yesterday, I** **challenged Eiichiro Oda to a game of Roulette but instead of using money to bet, Oda's used One Piece and I used my Turmoil Pokemon Card Legendary Theme Deck. I'll say one thing about last night. The odds are never in my favor. * _Sighs*_ I miss my deck.**

* * *

Paramecias and Haki

Law engaged in a staring contest with the legendary Whitebeard. Everyone was silent, surprised at the unknown boy's words. He was either incredibly brave or really, really stupid.

"Gurarararara!" Whitebeard roared, "You're one gutsy brat, I'll give you that. But..."

Law felt a chill creep up his spine. Was it fear? He didn't know why, but he felt extremely intimidated by the old man.

"...you're 60 years too young to be talking to me like that."

The youth responded with a scowl, defiance radiating from him. The party continued, leaving Law to wonder why they were having a party anyway. After asking Thatch for directions, he made his way towards the men's quarters. He entered the cabin and took the hammock farthest back since it was the only available one. Making his way towards the back of the cabin, he discovered a clean shirt and pants. Changing quickly, he lay down on the hammock, surveying the entire room. A straw hat rested on the hammock opposite him. It was a well-worn, well-made hat that was well taken care of. Suddenly, the straw hat began to move. He could distinguish a small shape among the sheets, moving into a comfortable position before settling down once more. Now that he thought of it, two more bodies were discernible in the hammocks closest to his. Law's eyes moved to the ceiling and he began to speculate about where he would be if Cora-san was still alive. He pondered the thought until, at some point, he dozed off.

* * *

The fourteen-year-old walked into the kitchen, seeking some breakfast. He still didn't fully trust the pirates and kept to himself while eating. As he finished up his meal, he heard voices coming from outside. The door burst open to reveal three boys bickering, Thatch in tow.

"Ace! Sabo! C'mon, fight me!" A boy wearing an orange sleeveless shirt, blue shorts, and messy, black hair under a straw hat way too big for him jumped in front of the others, yelling in a whiny voice.

"No! It's 100 matches per person right, Thatch?" The boy in a light blue shirt, blue pants, and a top hat argued.

Thatch scratched his head, "Well, um, too much training can be bad, you know." He spotted Straw Hat staring at him with a heartbroken face, "But of course, it'll take a long time for that to happen."

That did hardly anything to the heated argument between the three if anything fueling it. Thatch sighed heavily, he could barely handle the trio of brothers. What on earth was he to do?

Spying Law, he took the opportunity to wander over to the youth, "Law! I see you found the clothes I left for you."

Law glanced at the dark gray shirt and gray slacks. Thatch grinned at him, "Have you met Ace, Sabo, and Luffy?"

He shook his head and the swordsman eagerly shoved him in the direction of the dispute.

"Oi, you guys!" Thatch called out to the three, who looked up at him, "This is Trafalgar Law."

The three stared out at him for a moment, then Straw Hat approached him with a huge smile, "Hi! I'm Luffy and I'm gonna be the Pirate King! Nice to meetcha, Tra-whatsit Law!"

The older boy stared at him, _Tra...whatsit?_

"Err Luffy, it's Trafalgar," Sabo corrected his still-grinning brother. Suddenly, an idea popped into the seven-year old's head.

"Tra-whatsit Law," He began, "Let's have a fight!"

"Whoa, you can't just go challenging random people to a fight, Luffy!" Ace interrupted Luffy.

"Like you're one to talk," Sabo mumbled to himself. Unfortunately, Ace heard him.

"It's okay if the random people piss you off!" The black-haired boy and his blonde brother launched into a tirade about stupid bastards. While the two continued their argument, Luffy looked at Law with pleading eyes.

"C'mon! You look strong, so I wanna fight you!"

Law conceded, unable to take more begging he followed Straw Hat to the bow.

"All right, here goes!" Straw Hat launched his hand towards him. To the youth's surprise the arm stretched, landing what would have been a devasting attack on the floor. To make matters worse, the recoil sent the little boy flying into the nearby wall. Law sweatdropped, what else was he supposed to do? His opponent had gotten launched off into the air by his own attack, ending the 'fight'.

"Wow. What an interesting power," Came a voice, startling the two boys.

"Who's there?" Law clenched his fists, ready to counter a sneak attack.

"Easy, easy," Marco jumped downwards, landing in front of the two.

"Pineapple-ossan!" Luffy got to his feet, "Wow, you scared me. How'd you find us?"

"It's a secret," He knelt down to face Luffy, "That's a pretty cool power you've got there."

The kid's eyes brightened, "Yeah, it's the Gomu Gomu no mi."

"Looks like you could use a little help controlling your power, right?"

"You'll help me?" Luffy's excitement rocketed, his voice shaking.

"Sure. I ate a devil fruit too, but it's zoan,"

The 1st division commander left to fetch a barrel, whilst Luffy bounced up and down like a rubber ball. Marco returned and began coaching Luffy on how to properly hit a target. The more minutes they spent training, the better Luffy became. Soon enough, he was able to smash the barrel and withstand the recoil.

The boy's eyes shone, "Awesome! Now I can beat Ace and Sabo!"

Marco smiled fondly at the child, "Luffy, your devil fruit has a lot of potential. If you experiment with different ways to use it, you'll beat your brothers in no time."

Law gazed at the two. He had watched Straw Hat train and seen the improvement. He was also equally impressed by Marco's knowledge on controlling devil fruit powers. _Maybe he could help with mine._

"So Law," Marco turned to him, "Do you have a devil fruit?"

Law smirked, it was as if the pirate read his mind, "As a matter of fact, I do."

The teen straightened up, and stretched his hand outwards, **"** **Room!"**

A blue sphere covered the area between him and Marco.

Marco gazed at the sphere, "So what does it do?"

The teen frowned and the sphere disappeared, "That's where I need help. I ate the Ope Ope no mi two years ago, and I still not sure what it does."

"Ope Ope no mi?" Marco contemplated the fruit name, where had he heard that before. He mulled over the name before his eyes widened, "The Ope Ope no mi?! Isn't that the fruit they call the 'Ultimate Devil Fruit'?" The division commander faced Law, "You say you don't know how to use it, right?"

Law nodded.

"Okay, I'll be back,"

Marco walked away again, leaving Law in shock. The fruit that saved his life just happened to be the 'Ultimate Devil Fruit'? Unbelievable. Luffy, on the other hand, stared at Law in awe.

"Cool! You have the 'Ultimate Devil Fruit'! What does it do? Can you show me? Please, please, please?"

"Hold it Luffy," Marco reappeared, now holding a regular katana and a barrel. He tossed the sword towards Law and set the barrel on the floor, "Why don't you slice that barrel open while you're using that **'Room'**?"

Law nodded, not sure exactly how **Room** would help him here. As Luffy watched in awe, he extended his hand again, summoning the blue sphere and slashed the barrel. Instead of splintering, the barrel came clean in half. Law was confused and looked back at Marco for guidance.

"Now try and reattach the barrel on the opposite end. Without touching it."

Law racked his brains, searching for a way to reattach the barrel without touching it. An answer came to him and although it seemed stupid, he was willing to give it a shot. He twisted his hands to rotate the two halves around and pushed them together. Surprisingly enough, it worked. The top of the barrel and the bottom of the barrel were now attached. He retracted the **Room** and stared at what he had done to the once-normal barrel. Marco picked it up and attempted to pull it apart with as little force possible.

"One would think that it was made this way," he remarked and applied a little more force, separating it. He dropped the barrel and gazed at Law with a smirk, "That's how your power works."

Law blinked, "I don't really understand what I did."

"Since you ate the Ope Ope no mi, you became a free modification human. Anything in that ' **Room'** of yours is under your control." Marco explained to the young man.

"So cool!" Stars appeared in place of Luffy's eyes, "I wish I had a devil fruit like that!"

Neither of them realized the singular eye, spying on the boys as they began to experiment with their powers. The eye quickly disappeared without a trace. Inside the women's quarters, Robin thought of how Marco helped Luffy control his power and Law discover his. The eighteen-year-old smiled as she realized that ten years ago, he had promised to help her get stronger.

 _"Robin?"_

 _Marco approached the eight-year-old. It was midnight and Marco had just been out getting fresh air when he found the youth. She turned around to face him, "Can I ask you something, Marco-san?"_

 _"What-yoi?"_

 _She dropped her gaze, "Can you help me get stronger?"_

 _Marco paused for a moment, then replied, "Robin, you know Oyaji is against you fighting-yoi."_

 _"Yeah, but..." She stopped and locked eyes with Marco, "I want to be able to protect my friends. I don't want what happened in Ohara to happen again! This time, I want to be ready!"_

 _Marco bit his lip, he knew the girl was right but could he really go behind Oyaji's back?_

 _"Fine," He finally conceded with a sigh, "I'm sure Oyaji will understand-yoi."  
_

 _The little girl grinned and the training began._

It had been that way ever since. Every night at midnight she would head to the bow to train. At some point, Marco taught her something very useful. She hadn't fully mastered it, but she was quite proficient. She wanted to make sure there was never a repeat of Ohara.

* * *

As the days passed, the two trained harder and harder. Ace and Sabo began to catch on to their training sessions and somehow convinced Thatch to train them. As soon as Marco found out that Thatch was training Ace and Sabo, he traded Law for Ace so that Law could improve his swordsmanship. Sabo had also chosen the way of the sword. However, Marco regretted taking Ace because half the time he fought Luffy. Although the two were often distracted, they still made some incredible progress. By the end of the month, all four of the boys were ready to take on your-average-Paradise pirates. One day, Thatch had to run errands for Oyaji, so Law and Sabo joined Marco's group. Marco took this as an opportunity to teach them something very important.

"You guys have really improved, but you're still a long way's from being really strong," The zoan devil fruit eater told the boys, "That's why this lesson is really important." He turned to Luffy and Law, "Remember when you guys started fighting, and I found you so easily?"

"Yeah," Law replied, "We asked how and you said it was a secret."

"I did," Marco agreed, "Now, let me show you how to do the same thing-yoi."

* * *

"Man, we're gonna be in big trouble if Marco finds us!" Sabo notified to his brothers.

"And in even bigger trouble if Thatch does," Ace mentioned, then shushed him.

The brothers were currently sneaking off the ship to explore the island the Whitebeard pirates had docked at. They hid the ship in a huge cave to conceal from others.

"The thing I don't understand is why I have to carry Luffy," Sabo huffed at his brother.

Ace rolled his eyes, "'Cause I'm in charge."

The blonde boy clenched his fists, "Who died and made you boss?"

"No one,"

"Then that means you're not boss,"

"I am too!"

The two began fighting in the water. Luffy, who was on Sabo's back, was slowly slipping.

"If you're going to sneak off the ship, at least try to be stealthy," A voice interrupted the scuffle. The boys looked up to find Robin and Law, staring at the younger boys.

"Didn't Thatch-san say you couldn't go to the island?" Robin questioned the trio.

"Shh! Don't tell him!" Ace glared at the older two, they were going to get in trouble if they didn't pipe down.

"We won't tell..." Law stated, "...If we can come with you."

"Just what we need, more people!" Ace grumbled.

The exploration party went from three to five. They borrowed a lifeboat and set off to the island. Unseen by the five, Marco watched the boat disappear. On normal circumstances, he would stop them. However, today he decided to observe their little adventure. If things went horribly wrong, only then would he intervene.

* * *

The five traveled through the peaceful town and into the forest. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy competed against each other to see who was the fastest while Law and Robin strolled, watching the three. Well, Law watched them. Robin looked up from her book every now and then to observe wildlife, listen to bird calls, even congratulate the winner of every race, which was usually the winner of the fight that always follows the race. The sun began to set and Law suggested they go back. The ASL brothers argued, but luckily, Robin persuaded them, reminding the trio of what Thatch would do to them if he discovered they had gone on a little escapade. As the five marched back to the Moby Dick, they halted as they stared at what had been a peaceful town, now a sea of flames.

"What happened to the town?" Luffy's voice was almost inaudible.

Law gritted his teeth, "Pirates."

Ace clenched his fists, "They did this."

"We have to help," Sabo mentioned and the others agreed. They rushed towards the town, hoping they weren't too late. Dodging the crowds fleeing from the fiery town, the five children emerged to find pure chaos flowing through the wrecked streets. Big, burly men carrying large chests one-handed shoved away families. A mother and daughter cowered as a huge man with an incredibly large nose towered over them, blade positioned to strike. The two cried in fear, their eyes tightly shut waiting for death.

"Don't" Came a voice. A lean man wearing a blue shirt and pants rushed towards the pirate. Sadly, the brave soul was easily swatted away by the experienced brawler. The mother-daughter pair screamed as the pirate drove his saber into the man's stomach.

"That's far enough!" Sabo bellowed, drawing his pipe.

The pirate rose an eyebrow when he saw his next challenger, "Whaddya want, brat?" Sabo's eyes bore into the pirate, hate radiating from the boy. He received similar stares from the other four, "Got something against me?"

"Shut up, you bastard!" Ace charged at the larger man. The pirate attempted to smash his head, but the boy rolled out the way and launched himself onto his head.

"Get off, damn it!"

Ace responded with a fist of fury, landing it on the pirate's noggin. The large man slumped over, almost crushing the fearful little girl and her equally freaked-out mother. Pirate and civilian alike stared at the black-haired child who sucked in the air around him in an effort to calm his racing heart. Even his brothers gawked at him, Law looked mildly surprised and Robin put on a wide smile. The pirates quickly vacated the site while the townspeople rejoiced.

"Can't believe..." Sabo started.

"You used..." Luffy continued.

"Haki," Law finished.

"Haki?" Ace frowned, "I did?"

Robin tilted her head, a slight look of confusion rested on her face, "You didn't see?"

The ten-year-old's scrunched up his face, struggling to recall the memory, "All I know is when I socked that bastard, I felt really mad."

"Ah, so you used it unconsciously," Law nodded then his facial expression changed into one of disappointment, "Damn, I still haven't unlocked it myself."

Ace stared at his balled up fist, sizing up the damage it could do. He grinned inwardly, pride seemed to ooze out the freckled boy, "Wait 'till I tell everyone. They won't believe it!"

Sabo chuckled, "Ace, you can't tell anyone 'cause they'll wonder why you were on the island beating up pirates." The comment crushed Ace's spirit, leaving the kid muttering about the hardships of discovering a gift and being unable to share or brag to others.

"Sorry to reign on your parade but you've already been found out-yoi," Marco emerged out from behind some bushes, frightening the living daylights out of the three little boys. Law wore a shocked look on his face and only Robin seemed passive about the arrival of the 1st division commander.

"Hello Marco-san," She greeted him calmly as if she had known he was there the entire time.

At that point, everything in Law's mind came to a screeching halt. It all made sense now.

"Wait, you can use it too?!" He shot an accusing finger at the raven-haired girl.

"What?"

"Haki, Damn it! Stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about!" He paused, straightened and calmed himself, continuing in a steadier voice, "Sorry, I'm just flustered to find I've been bested twice."

"Well, technically Ace can't use it since he has no control over his Haki. At the same time, I have been on the ship longer than all of you so of course I can use it."

"Wait Robin knows how to use Haki too?" The trio yelled. The two teens sweatdropped, they were a bit behind.

Marco burst out laughing, "Hahahaha! Sometimes, you guys can really make me bust a gut. But I still gonna tell Thatch about this excursion-yoi."

"What? No!" The three boys screamed simultaneously, "We'll do anything, just don't tell Thatch!"

A slightly mischievous look appeared on Marco the Phoenix's face, "Anything, you say-yoi?"

* * *

"I'm really proud of how you saved that village," The zoan devil fruit user started, "But that was a bit too reckless. However, instead of telling Thatch, I have a punishment of my own."

"Yuck!" Ace pulled out a scrap of food, holding his nose, "This reeks! And it looks gross!"

"Why are we doing this again?" Law growled, clearly upset.

Marco's evil face appeared once more, "'Cause 1)We made a deal, 2)You can't call yourselves warriors if you can't look at gross things without gagging, and 3)I don't want to clean this mess up."

All four boys stared at him, a murderous glint in their eyes.

"Anyways," Sabo broke the silence, "Why isn't Robin working?"

Marco grinned, "Oh she is. She has the worst punishment of all."

Meanwhile, inside the women's cabin, Robin lay on her bed engrossed in a leather-bound book. The cover read _Knights in the Night._ The eighteen-year-old tore her gaze from the novel, sighing blissfully.

"I wonder what the boys are doing right now," She thought out loud before returning to the story.

Back in the galley, the same thought appeared in all four boys' minds. _P_ _oor Robin._

They continued cleaning the trashed galley, complaints were heard every now and then. However, as soon as Marco promised to help them unlock and control their Haki, the kitchen was spotless in no time.

 _These kids,_ Marco thought, _I see why Thatch and Oyaji are so interested in them. They're... unique._

* * *

Miles and miles of deep blue sea away, the kingdom of Goa continued it's daily life. Commoners went about their business and the nobles plotted to burn down the Gray Terminal. Everything seemed normal. However, amidst the crowds was a man donning a green cloak. His face was hidden, and he looked all around suspicious. But no one even noticed. The man calmly strolled out the gates of the gorgeous kingdom. He had completed his mission, but there was one thing he wanted to see first. The man made his way through the forests of Mt. Colubo, avoiding any wild animals. As he approached the village's outskirts, he diverted his path and headed towards an abandoned house. Opening the creaking door, he walked over to a table and picked up a picture resting on it. A young woman with black curls cascading down her back held a small newborn. The baby was asleep, his innocent face melted the man's heart, though he didn't show it. Suddenly he dropped the photo, whipping around to find a tall old man wearing a suit and a marine's coat. The marine raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.

"What's this?" The marine spoke, "It's surprising to find you here, of all places." After barking an order at his men, he slammed the door shut and returned his gaze to the cloaked man, "What brings you to the East Blue, Monkey D. Dragon?"

* * *

 **A/N: Whaaaaaat? Dragon's here? Yes, he is. I tried to find the most unexpected but still logical cliffhanger I could find. Sorry about saying I would be gone for a week then not updating for two. In a cruel twist of fate, my computer was wrenched out of my hands by someone I trusted. Not to mention while I was saving the story, my wifi decided to mess with me and well, let's just say if I had tried to rewrite... my computer would... well you know. Tell me what you thought of this one, I'm interested to know what you think. Thanks for the support.**

 **Next week: Back to East Blue**


	6. Back to the East Blue

**Disclaimer**

 **C'mon round the campfire and let me tell you the tale called 'I don't own One Piece'...**

* * *

 **Back To The East Blue**

Dragon the Revolutionary leaned back on a chair, a wide smirk rested on his face, "I didn't expect to run into you, Vice Admiral Garp."

"What? You didn't? I thought it's pretty obvious why I'm here," Garp stared at his son in shock.

Dragon sweatdropped, "Yeah I know. I was just being sarcastic." He heaved a sigh, being away from his father for so long completely erased the knowledge of his slow mind. He was glad he had his mother's intelligence. He hoped Luffy had the same luck.

"So Dragon, what brings you back? Homesickness?"

"You of all people should know why I came all the way to the East Blue," Dragon notified the Vice Admiral.

"Oh, Luffy! You came to see him?"

"No, just to check,"

Garp smiled widely, "You don't have to be worried 'bout Luffy. He's all right, I take good care of him!"

The cloaked man scoffed, "I bet all you do is beat him in order to make him a marine."

"Eh? I take care of him! Half the time he's living around bandits," Garp yelled in an offended tone.

"My point exactly," Dragon leaned the chair to the point where only one leg held it up, staring at the photo of Luffy and his mother, "So what's he doing the other half?"

"Hanging around Ace and Sabo. Sabo's a brat from the Gray Terminal, and Ace is Go-I mean Ace lives with the bandits,"

The revolutionary raised an eyebrow, "Go?"

"Err, it's nothing," Garp grinned nervously, obviously hiding something.

Dragon sighed once more, he was lucky to have been given his mother's lying skills as well. However, he was seriously worried about Luffy. Lack of intelligence is bad enough but lack of intelligence _and_ horrible lying skills basically meant his poor son had the luck of the devil when it came to genetics.

"What is 'Go'?"

Sweat dripped down Garp's face, "I don't know what 'Go' means. It most definitely has nothing to do with Gold Roger!"

Surprise flashed onto Dragon's face before vanishing just as quickly, "What does this Ace character have to do with Gold Roger?"

"Umm... Monkey D. Dragon! If you stay here any longer, I'll have to arrest you!"

"Wait what?" Dragon questioned his father in slight annoyance, "You have something you won't tell me, but can't hide since you're such a terrible liar so you're kicking me out?"

"Yes!" Garp dragged his son off the wooden chair and flung him out the back door, "Take care and don't come back or else I'll throw you in Impel Down!"

The door slammed shut and more barking rang through the air. Dragon dusted himself off, still irritated at his father's behavior. He disappeared into the forest as he muttered, "Some old man I've got." The revolutionary leader then decided to go pay a visit to his son. Using **Kenbunshoku Haki** , the cloaked figure arrived at Dadan's shack in no time flat and knocked.

"Who the hell is it?!" An annoyed voice shouted. The door opened to reveal a large, orange-haired woman. She stared at him for a brief moment before shrieking as loud as she could, "Y-you're Dragon the revolutionary."

"Ah, so you've heard of me. That makes things easier," He entered and was greeted by bulging eyes and gaping mouths, "Can I speak to Monkey D. Luffy?"

* * *

"What? Luffy left with the 4th division commander of the Whitebeard pirates?"

Dadan grinned sheepishly, "Yeah. I had no idea Luffy was _your_ son."

"Most people don't,"

"Well it might seem troubling, but that Thatch guy's alright. I doubt he'll let harm come to your son."

Dragon smirked, "I wasn't worried. Just a bit disappointed I couldn't see him."

The bandit blinked then hopped to her feet, "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, but do you have meat?"

The redhead inwardly sweatdropped, _please tell me he's not like Luffy._

After the meal, she found the answer to her question. Let's just say she wasn't very pleased.

"Thanks for the meal," The man left the shack, now satisfied. Still, he was a bit disappointed he couldn't get to see Luffy, but not all that sad. After all, this meant Luffy was in good hands since he escaped Garp's abusive grip. Dragon's mind wandered to Luffy's friend, Ace, and his connection with the Pirate King. Is he Roger's son? The revolutionary shook his head in disbelief, he had been there during Roger's execution. Marines had searched every nook and cranny for a child but none was found. _Unless he abandoned his kid, like me._ Even to this day, regret heavily weighed down his mind, regret he hadn't learned to let go of. He would learn eventually. His features contorted into a frown as he thought of the moments in Luffy's childhood he wasn't present for. However, when it came to his separation with Luffy there was only one factor to blame. Fate.

"Perhaps today wasn't the day," He spoke softly to himself, "Destiny decides which path we take. This was _your_ destiny, and I respect that." Dragon emerged from the lush jungle once more, this time heading towards the coast. It was evident his comrades were getting quite anxious from the constant 'puru puru puru' uttered by his mini Den Den Mushi. "Yes. Someday our fates will cross. Then we will meet."

* * *

Law was about ready to lose it. Three months with "Hot-Tempered", "Know-It-All", and "Noisy" would do that to you. Nevertheless, Robin managed to stay perfectly sane. She would often laugh at the crazy antics of the trio of brothers, dismissing it as 'childhood fun'. Childhood fun, yeah right. He envied her carefree ways. For him, New World weather + Ace, Sabo, and Luffy=Unhappy Law. Though despite the frequent weather changes and three terrors running rampant aboard, he didn't hate being on the ship. He actually found a place to call home for a while. What a surprise. He hadn't even beaten one of the brothers to a bloody pulp like he threatened to. Yet. Nonetheless, the fourteen-year-old had still publicly displayed his euphoria when Luffy had attacked Marco and Thatch with his puppy-dog eyes and easily won the battle. His reward was joining Marco and Robin on a trip to the East Blue. Poor Marco but lucky him! So he stood on deck as Marco, Robin, and the rabid brats sailed to the East Blue, far away from him. A wide smile appeared on his usually sulky face, startling half the crew. As they vanished from view, a new feeling settled inside Law. One of desperation, agony, and pure idleness. He realized the horror of bidding goodbye to the only thing that took up his day for a whole month. He. Was. Bored.

* * *

Ace still had the image of Law's Luffy-style grin in his head. It was permanently imprinted into his temporal lobe. All five of them had seen it but decided on avoiding the subject of the rare and bizarre occurrence. In fact, none of them conversed for a while. Each person turned over the thought of Law's smile. Sometimes they had just ruled out the possibility of Law possessing the ability to produce a genuine smile. Not a smirk, a real smile. While the others continued overreacting, Luffy climbed up the main mast, into the crow's nest and screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'm gonna be the Pirate King!" Night fell soon enough and they all turned in for the night. The next morning and the next few weeks turned out the same way. Marco would wake up early and cook, the 1st division commander seemed to have a fair bit of culinary skill. Robin would always tease him, even threatening to buy an apron the two spotted at a shop embroidered with the words 'Kiss the Cook' in pink for him. It had taken a lot of bargaining to escape the teen's radar. The said girl would wake up next, eat, and then lounge on the deck. Things 1, 2, and 3 followed, making a complete mess of the small galley, which Marco always cleaned himself, to his dismay. The three would scale the masts while Marco manned the helm and Robin relaxed in her chair, immersed in her latest novel choice. This would continue, only interrupted by lunch, dinner, and nighttime. The change in weather was noticeable when they crossed from the New World into the Grand Line and even more so during their journey into the East Blue. After reaching the East Blue, Marco began to fret less over the weather, logs, and sea king ambushes and paid more attention to the three ticking time bombs called Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. It wasn't long before they did something rash in absolute boredom. Luckily, they reached their intended destination before the clock hit zero. Unluckily, as soon as they set foot on the island, Luffy dashed off in search of adventure. Naturally, his brothers chased him, and Marco ordered Robin to bring all three of them back here. When the four could no longer be seen, Marco wondered if there was an almighty being answering his prayers. Sure, this wasn't how he'd expected it to turn out, but at this point, he'd take anything. So the zoan devil fruit user did something anyone watching over hyperactive kids trapped on a sailboat would do. He left to catch up on some much needed snoozing.

* * *

"Luffy! Slow down!" Even his brothers couldn't catch the adventure-hungry child this time. Robin halted, entering her signature pose, ready to stop the wacky seven-year-old in his tracks when a shadow beat her to it. She caught up with the older brothers gaping at the stranger entangled with Luffy. The eighteen-year-old exhaled in relief, the other person was a boy who seemed only a year or two older than Luffy, wearing typical black dojo attire. It did alarm the older girl to see three swords strapped to his back, but what popped out the most about the newcomer was his short, moss-like hair.

Luffy, being the loveable idiot of the trio, also sighted this, "Wow! You have green hair! Your head looks like moss! Shishishi!"

"Yeah!" Ace added, awakening from his shock.

"His head does resemble moss," Sabo duly noted.

"So what?!" The strange boy screamed in frustration.

Robin giggled at the boy's behavior. He was a short fuse, but luckily she had enough experience dealing with those, "Um, excuse me. My friends and I are lost and we need to find our way out of here. Can you help us? By the way, I'm Robin and these are Ace, Sabo, and Luffy." She pointed to each boy respectively, "What's your name."

He scowled at her polite behavior, contemplating whether to help the girl with the boys who had insulted him, "It's Zoro." He complied at last, "Roronoa Zoro."

"Nice to meet you, Zoro-san,"

Zoro dusted his clothes, "I can lead you to the town, but let me warn you. This may seem crazy, but everything in this jungle moves."

"Ya don't say," Came Ace's sarcastic response, "Animals in jungles are supposed to move, dumbass."

"That's not it," The green-haired boy huffed in annoyance, "Everything, even trees and rocks, moves. In fact, everything on this island moves."

Sabo fired a worried look in the three-sword-carrying boy's direction, "Are you alright? Do you hallucinate or something?"

"No! Everything on the island moves!" His temper exploded once more.

"Okay then. Let's get going, shall we?" The tall girl broke up the impending fight.

As the four began to follow their new guide, Luffy whispered, "Hey Robin."

Robin attention snapped towards the boy, "Yes?"

He glanced at Zoro and his brothers, checking to see if they were watching, "Do the things on islands move?"

Robin's gaze rested on Zoro and a soft sigh escaped her, "No."

* * *

The sun was now at its highest point, noon. It had been five hours since they arrived at the island. Now they blindly trailed their guide, Zoro, leading them into the claws of danger every five minutes like sheep following a terrible shepherd into a lion's den. The five were exhausted, minor scratches and bruises scattered on exposed skin. Their garments were filthy, their stomachs concave. It was official, they were lost. Or rather, it was official after the first tiger attack. Sabo leaned on his trusty pipe, panting heavily.

"I'm hungry!" Luffy whined for the umpteenth time. Groans could be heard from his brothers' parched lips as if they were too tired to utter the words 'shut up'.

"Where's the village?" Ace moaned, roughly nudging Zoro and almost causing the younger boy to collapse.

The boy scrambled for balance, "It's this damn island! It's freakin' cursed!"

"No," Robin mentioned weakly, "You have a terrible sense of direction."

"Do not!"

"Do too!" Sabo yelled at the green-haired child.

"It's okay. I can use my Haki to get us out of here," Robin ceased walking, concentrating until a scream jolted her out of her thoughts.

"No! I know my way around, so I'll get you out!" The swords-carrying kid insisted, leaping in front of the older girl.

"No, it's fine Zo-"

"No~! Zoro got us lost! Robin, you're the only one here who's fully mastered Kenbunshoku Haki so help us get outta here!" The top-hatted boy attempted to convince the raven-haired girl.

Zoro grabbed him by the collar, anger, and frustration written all over his face, "I live here, so I'm the best person to lead you!"

"Zoro-san," Robin started, "How long have you been in this jungle?"

A shade of red coloured the young boy's face, "N-none of your business!"

"Robin!" Ace glanced expectantly at the teen.

"I said no!" Zoro tackled the older boy wrestling him to the ground.

"Why you..." They separated, Ace drew his pipe and Zoro unsheathed his swords, placing one in his mouth and bewildering the spectators.

"Oh dear," Robin deadpanned. The two clashed, pipe against swords. Both were thrown backward into the dirt. Ace charged at Zoro, and the green-haired boy intercepted his strike with the swords. Once again they broke apart, heavily panting. This time, Zoro rushed towards the black-haired boy. Ace dodged and countered with a swift attack. The attack hit home and Zoro winced in pain, gritting his teeth. They glared at each other with the same icy fury channeled into their weapons.

"Let's finish this," Ace spoke first.

Zoro smirked, "Yeah."

The two boys simultaneously lunged at each other.

 **"Oni Giri!"**

 **"Busoshoku: Koka!"**

Pipe and blade connected with a shrill sound. The odds seemed to sway in Zoro's favor since he was armed with three blades as opposed to Ace's mere pipe. However, Ace's pipe was coated with a shiny black substance. To a clueless onlooker's point of view, the possibility of the older child's pipe breaking two of the younger's swords would seem improbable. But for Luffy, Sabo, and Robin, it was a very likely outcome. And that was exactly what went down. Zoro crashed into a tree trunk, crimson liquid burst out of his mouth on impact.

 _Shit,_ The green-haired boy stared at his shattered swords, _He beat me without getting a scratch and here I am, bleeding. To top it off, he broke my swords._

Zoro resheathed the only intact sword into its white sheath and returned his gaze to the broken blades, "You've served me well." He whispered with his eyes shut as he resheathed and buried them into the earth.

Ace raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"A swordsman must respect his sword," The boy answered, eyes still closed.

"Wow, you're actually alright,"

He received a grin from the young swordsman, "You're not so bad yourself." Ace helped the younger child get to his feet, who's facial expression was one of curiosity, "Say, what was that technique you used to break my blades?"

"Oh. That's Haki,"

"Haki?"

The hatless brother nodded, "Busoshoku Haki. It's when you coat yourself with an invisible armor using your willpower."

"Oh? How do I learn this Haki?" Zoro inquired, a smirk present on his face.

The boy shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is when I unlocked it, I channeled all my emotions into my fist. That's how I usually activate it. Like I said, I don't know. It's different for everyone. But you hafta train really hard and fight all the time and always face dangerous situations and it's really tiring." The freckled child collapsed with a moan, "Speaking of exhausting... Robin~!"

The eighteen-year-old straightened, "Yes, right." She concentrated her thoughts on finding a way out, "Guys, I sense someone coming," She readied herself, waiting for the unknown person.

"Eh?" Sabo quickly drew his pipe, "Who?"

As if on cue, a man with black hair tied in a ponytail and big round glasses emerged from the trees. Sabo dropped his pipe and rushed to the man, grasping his clothing, "Finally! Please tell me you know the way out! Please, please~!"

The stranger smiled, "Of course. By the way, I take it you are travelers who happened to ask Zoro of all people for help?"

The top-hatted boy nodded vigorously and he chuckled softly, "I'm Koshiro. I'm the head of Zoro's dojo, so I'm quite familiar with his antics."

Zoro glared at his sensei, another hint of red plagued his face, "Antics?!"

Robin giggled as well, "Is that so? Then do you know of the items on this island's tendency to move?"

"I know that one very well,"

After the long trek to Koshiro's dojo, warm baths, fresh clothes, and a hot meal, the three brothers quietly observed Zoro's training routine. In the next room over, Robin explained why they came to the island, slightly warping some parts to make them sound like travelers and not pirates. Zoro was doing his push-ups, perspiration dripped down his forehead.

"11,520... 11,521..."

"Zoro," Luffy walked over to the struggling nine-year-old.

"What?"

A grin spread across the younger boy's face, "When I get older, you should join my crew!"

His brothers stared at the straw hat-wearing boy like he just grew a second head, "What?!"

Ace pushed Sabo aside and grabbed Luffy's arm, "No way! If Zoro's gonna join anyone's crew, it'll be mine!"

"Don't get ahead of yourselves!" Sabo scramble to his feet to join the fray, "Ace is narcoleptic and Luffy's stupid! With captains like those, you won't survive a single day out on the seas!"

"Don't listen to Sabo! He's a nutjob!"

"Eh?! What proof do you have of that?!"

"Ace is a meanie, Sabo's boring! Join my crew! I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

Zoro sat up , legs crossed, "What makes you think _I'll_ become _your_ subordinate?" The young swordsman rose, sweat drenched his garb, "You're all crazy if you think I'm just gonna bow down to you instantly." And with that, he exited the dojo.

* * *

The lookout relaxed inside the crow's nest. Nothing but bad weather ever confronted their ship. That was probably one of the added perks of sailing onboard a yonko's ship. He perched the telescope in front of his eye, surveying the area and expecting to find nothing but blue sea. However, a lone ship interrupted the horizon, sticking out like a sore thumb. The lookout wasn't alarmed yet, but one glimpse of the jolly roger put him in full panic mode.

"Is that... him? It is! Oyaji! Commander Jozu!"

Jozu, who had briefly taken Marco's place as Whitebeard's right-hand man, gazed up, a frown evident on his face, "What is it?"

"A... a... a fellow yonko is approaching!"

The cry shook the pirates up from their lax state, "Eh?" Jozu rushed to port, "Who? Kaido? Big Mam? Red hair?"

"R-Red Hair!"

Whitebeard's features took on a frown, "What does that brat want?"

The ship of the Red-Haired pirates drew closer until it was in the shadow of the towering Moby Dick. Whitebeard and his division commanders waited patiently until Red Hair had boarded. The younger man sauntered over to Whitebeard, red colouring his face. The yonko ceased walking, facing Whitebeard while clutching his stomach and struggling to stay upright.

"Whiteburd! Long time no shee, eh?" He uttered enthusiastically with an intoxicated face.

"What's your purpose for coming over, brat?" The older yonko demanded.

Red Hair grinned, his face incredibly flushed, "Well, Ya shee, ah jush ha ta-" He paused mid-sentence, gripping his head as he fell to the floor, moans of agony filled the air. The red-haired man got to his feet, hand on head still groaning, "Ah jush wanna know... how ya doin'?"

"Are you drunk, brat?"

"Yeh, Ah am. Ah cummaned ma nabigata ta git ahz 'ere beecuz..." Sweat dripped down his face as he strained to keep his stomach's contents inside. Red Hair swayed uneasily, trying to keep himself from flopping on the ground once more, "S'okay! ah'm fine..."

"You don't look fine," Thatch muttered under his breath.

Whitebeard raised an eyebrow, both eyes concentrating on the tipsy pirate captain, "Brat, go back."

"Wha-?"

"If you didn't come here to be serious then go,"

"No, no!" Red Hair held out a shaky hand, "Ah'm shereeush. Zhe mareens. Zhe ar a lach moah ouch zhe zan zere yush ta bee. Ishn't zat weird~?"

"What is he saying?" Jozu glanced at Whitebeard in confusion.

"Ehvreeshin iz shpinnin. Wheeeeee!" He slumped over giggling and Benn Beckman rushed towards his grounded captain, "Ey Benn! Wa ish ya fash shpinnin? Shlow dawn! Heh heh heh!"

The first mate rose to face the confused legend, "My apologies about my captain's behavior. What he's trying to say is, lately, there's been quite a bit of marine activity in yonko territory, specifically yours."

"I can deal with some snot-nosed brats who think they're top dog, I don't need your help,"

Benn nodded in understanding. He turned back to his befuddled captain who was singing merrily, "Yo-hohoho, Yo hohoho! Yo-hohoho, Yo hohoho! Yo-hohoho, Yo hohoho! Goincha deeleeva Binkshu's Shakay! Falain' zhe shee breesh! Ryjin' an zhe wavesh! Fa acrash zhe shalche jeps! Zhe marri evenin' shun! Zhe burds shing ahz zhe dwo shurkles 'n zhe ska!"

Benn heaved an enormous sigh, "We'll be off now." he grabbed his nonsense-spouting captain and dragged him away.

"Wait!" The first mate halted as he heard Thatch's voice , "There's something you need to know."

"What?"

"Recently we took in four brats,"

"Okay~..."

"There's one named Monkey D. Luffy..."

"Wait, Luffy's onboard?!" The Red-Haired pirates, minus their drunken captain, yelled in utter surprise.

"Luffy~? Whur ish 'ee? Lemme shee 'im!"

"Well, he's not aboard right this-"

"Wach? Heesh nach? Wa, whurd 'ee go?"

Thatch grumbled in slight annoyance, "He's with Marco."

Shanks whipped towards the swordsman, "Eesh wich Panapel ear?"

"What on earth is he saying?" Jozu repeated, throwing another glance at his Oyaji.

Benn plastered a smile on his face, "Nice meeting you, Whitebeard. Next time, I'm going to deprive him of alcohol 'till we get here."

"Bring some good-quality sake to help there _be_ a next time!" The yonko reminded the retreating crew. The first mate glanced over his shoulder with a smile, then continued to haul his inebriated captain back to the ship.

The Whitebeards resumed daily activities, mutters about the bold man who visited the living legend drunk still ran through the crew. Though he seemed to be engrossed in his book, Law had heard everything. _Red Hair knows Straw Hat-ya?_ He mused about the yonko's connection to the noisy child, making a mental note to inform him of the pirate captain's drop-by. The fourteen-year-old departed the stern, passed by his room to pick up a squirming sack, then heading for the sickbay. When he arrived, he fetched the surgery tools and emptied the sack's contents on the bed. He strapped down a frightened seagull, then picked up a scalpel.

"I'm not allowed to use anesthetics, so this will hurt a little bit," He informed the poor bird, who wrestled to escape the straps. Law advanced, scalpel in hand and a crazed look in his eyes. Back at the stern, Jozu and Thatch winced as they heard fearful squawks erupting from below deck.

"Law's practicing surgery again?" The paramecia devil fruit eater turned to the swordsman.

"Yup. Been doing it ever since the three terrors left. For the sake of the poor seagulls, they need to come back soon. I can't stand hearing those torturous screams." Another barrage of the seagulls pleas for mercy began and the two shuddered.

"Let's just try to enjoy the feast, okay?" Jozu suggested and Thatch nodded in agreement. The two returned to the party, still shivering about how much the animal was probably suffering.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter successfully finished. What do you think of Shanks' arrival? Can you understand a word he's saying? If you can't then that's good 'cause that's what I was aiming for. Law's new hobby is to learn about surgery hands on. And all his victims are unsuspecting seagulls. I have a lot planned for that little habit. Also, Zoro. Yes, he's here now. I put him in as a way of smoothing out the Shells Town arc. That and I feel this will boost his loyalty to Luffy and his knowledge of Ace, Sabo, and Robin. Enough drawling on about the story. See you all next week.**

 **Next week: 'Till We Meet Again!**


	7. Till We Meet Again!

**Disclaimer**

 **My name is not Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

 **'Till We Meet Again!**

 **The Evening Before the Raid**

The green-haired boy mediated, perfectly still. He sat in front of a grave decorated with flowers, indicating the person lying in it was well-known and well-loved. His eyes fluttered open and he exhaled softly, staring at the words engraved in the polished granite.

"I've come to talk," He began in a hushed voice, "Kuina."The words flew into the air and the gale winds carried them out into the world. He bowed his head, eyes fixated on the soft dirt, "Before you... left, you were the only one able to fight me and win. Now that's changed." The boy grasped his, no, _Kuina's_ Wado Ichimonji, allowing the smooth texture of the sword to rub against his calloused hands. The meito was hers, he had merely borrowed it to fulfill his dream. The child believed the sword to be a part of his rival he could keep with him here in the mortal world. He couldn't fathom ever having to leave the sword behind, "So Kuina," His hoarse voice uttered almost inaudibly, "What do you think of that Ace kid?" He rose his head, all thoughts concentrated on the freckled boy, "He beat me. I'm not upset about getting defeated, though. Actually, I'm kinda relieved 'cause now I know that I'm still weak. I need to get stronger." Another gust of wind tugged at his emerald hair but the boy ignored it, "Say, Kuina. What do you think of me becoming a pirate?" Silence greeted him and frustration clouded Zoro's thoughts, _Why am I so upset if I knew I wasn't going to get an answer?_ He heaved a sigh, pounding the dirt with his fists. After he finished his tantrum, Zoro gazed at his bloodied knuckles. Specks of dirt littered his skin, filth caked his fingernails. The green-haired boy balled his fists, pressing his unkempt nails against his skin so hard, crimson dripped down his palm, leaving a trail. "Why! Why can't I accept your death!" A stray tear made its way down the young swordsman's face, dropping down onto the ground as it reached his jaw. Multitudes followed and Zoro was unable to control their flow. "Why..." He repeated in a softer voice. He was now gripping the sword, his hands reddening. He shouldn't be crying. Kuina was dead and that was that. The moss-headed swordsman glanced down at the meito in his hands, running his hands along its intricate designs and admirable craftsmanship. "I promise, I will be the world's strongest! Nothing will stop me! You'll see, Kuina." His hand traced the hilt's patterns, "And whether you like it or not, I'm gonna do it as a pirate!" He rose the Wado Ichimonji into the sky.

 _That Ace kid. He's the only one that I'll follow. The only one I'll allow to become my captain. Sabo's not bad either. I bet he's also stronger than me. Luffy, on the other hand, is something else. But..._

He could still remember the straw hat-wearing boy's bright smile as he looked Zoro right in the eye, the words flowing from his mouth as bold and daring as he could recall, _"When I get older, you should join my crew!"_

The child smirked to himself, _He_ _might seem wacky, but man, that kid's got guts._ The tears finally ceased to flow and the fledgling swordsman got to his feet, turning around to face a tall, black-haired teen resting on a boulder, eyes glued to her tome. Zoro narrowed his eyes, "You." Suddenly he felt very sick to the stomach, "How long have you been here?"

She glanced up with a sly smirk, "Long enough to hear your entire conversation."

The green-haired boy gulped, sweat dripping down his face. A very noticeable blush appeared, declaring his embarrassment to anyone who gazed at him. The swordsman turned away, trying to avoid Robin's prying eyes, "So I was talking to a grave. Big deal." He folded his arms to emphasize his nonchalant attitude, though he wasn't fooling her.

"Don't be embarrassed, Zoro-kun," She approached him slowly, her smirk changing into a comforting smile, "There's nothing wrong with visiting the graves of passed loved ones or even speaking to them." Her eyes wandered to the sky, a faraway look present in them, "At least you have a memento."

Zoro's eyes dropped to the Wado Ichimonji then to Robin again. A blank expression lay where emotions should have been. Robin noticed him staring and gazed at the child. His eyes fell away and he walked off, leaving Robin to herself for just a moment before she realized what he was doing.

"Wait! You shouldn't go off on your own!" The eighteen-year-old frantically scrambled to her feet to put a stop to the impending catastrophe. Zoro glanced over his shoulder, an annoyed look rested on his face.

"What? You think I'm gonna get lost?"

"Positive," Zoro sighed, made a 180-degree turn and trudged off, muttering under his breath. Robin remained, staring at the foot of the grave, where the _Wado Ichimonji_ rested in the soft grass. _At least he's got something left._ A sad smile appeared on her face and stubbornly clung there, refusing to leave. The teen followed Zoro, clutching her novel in one hand. She may not have anything to remember the scholars, Saul, or her mother by other than her memories, but it was alright. Robin plastered a small smile on her face, hoping to disguise the deep anguish clouding her eyes.

* * *

 **Two Hours Later**

"Commander!" Came the cry of a marine soldier. A boy no older than nineteen raced into the said man's quarters, his fiery red locks blown back by the breeze created with his momentum, "We've established Pirate Don Krieg's destination!"

"Really?" The commander ran his hand through his short, white hair, lighting a cigar and adding it to the one already placed in his mouth, "Where is he headed?"

The navy youngster snapped into a salute, trying to ignore the heavy fumes wafting out the two lit cigars, "An insignificant island just west of here."

The commander frowned before releasing a plume of smoke, "Set sail for that island."

The soldier responded with a swift 'Hai!' then quickly exited the room, coughing, and gagging. The white-haired man watched his subordinate leave and picked up the paper in front of him. It just happened to be a wanted poster bearing the picture of a man with long grey hair and a scowl and the commander's frown deepened. Krieg had escaped his grasp twice before. He would ensure it never happened again.

* * *

 **The Following Morning**

"Men!" Don Krieg bellowed at his fierce pirate armada. The pirates responded boisterously, hands shot in the air, chanting the pirate admiral's name. Krieg grinned, satisfied with the vigor and spirit his fleet displayed, "Today, we will once again strike fear into the hearts of people everywhere! We will show the East Blue our tremendous power! And after today, we will head for the Grand Line and show them the true terror of the Krieg pirates!" The rowdy crowd roared in support, spouting praises directed at their crew and insults fired at the marines.

"We're the best!"

"No one can stop us!"

"The marines can't do shit!"

A man donning a gray jacket embellished with two red serpent emblems, a gray headband with blue stripes, a dark green shirt, and gray pants gazed at his fellow crewmates. The rowdy fleet shared sake and celebrated their success as a pirate crew. He should join them, after all, they were the unvanquished Krieg pirates. Nothing stood in their path to victory. Every soul that gave a crap about their previous rampages was either too chicken to act or lacked the strength required. They were the kings of the East Blue seas. Yet Gin couldn't shake the feeling of hopelessness that weighed his spirit down. He couldn't jubilate or let loose. He could only speculate about how, eventually, they would meet their untimely demise. Because he knew, he knew they weren't the strongest. Sooner or later, they would fall. And right now, Gin could only think of that day. So as his crew continued their feast, Gin stared at the rising sun, wondering when he would die.

* * *

 **The Afternoon of the Raid**

It was a regular day for the citizens of this small island. The cool, ocean breeze swept through the streets of the town. The adults worked. The children frolicked. The elders talked. Life, in general, flowed smoothly. However, the arrival of the ships bearing the much hated jolly roger marked a new period of panic. The pirates poured ashore, demanding treasure. They aimlessly killed robbed families and set fire to everything flammable. Thankfully, a marine ship appeared over the horizon. Soon enough, the massive warship made it to shore and marines dispersed to save the townspeople and extinguish the pirate threat. The white-haired commander from before gazed at the pirate-induced havoc, clenching his cigars wedged in his jaws.

"This is a disaster," He began, "But as marines, it is our duty to put an end to this. I will save the people of this town, or my name isn't Commander Smoker!"

* * *

Gin didn't take part of the raid. Instead, he scaled one of the taller buildings and camped out on the roof, drinking a bottle of sake he had just managed to nab before departing the ship. Armed with his tonfas, the pirate's gaze lay at sea, surveying the blue horizon. Naturally, he was the first to spot the marines but he didn't budge. Instead, he took another swig of the alcohol and continued staring. His thoughts were interrupted by the heavy thud of boots a few minutes later. Gin turned to face the intruder, upon seeing him, a smile appeared on his face.

"Well, looks like I was right. Today _is_ our unlucky day," The pirate spoke, "What brings you here, White Chase?"

Smoker glared at the pirate, "Where is Krieg?"

"I dunno,"

"Answer me!" The commander bellowed in rage.

Gin shrugged in reply, "I just did. What're you, deaf?"

Fury oozed off Smoker in waves, the commander didn't have time to play, "Where is Krieg?"

"Are you retarded? I said, I don't know,"

That was the last straw for the white-haired man. He charged at the pirate, boosting himself with his devil fruit power. Gin drew his tonfas and countered the marine's strike. Smoker thrust his jutte forward and Gin sidestepped, swinging his tonfa at his head. The weapon merely phased through. For a moment, the pirate wavered slightly. The commander took advantage of this, fiercely ramming Gin with his jutte. He crashed into the ground, blood trailed from his mouth. Smoker approached the nearly unconscious being, grabbing him by the collar.

"I'll ask one last time. Where is Krieg?!"

"I..I..." He stopped to cough up a stream of blood, "I... don't know..."

Smoker's blood began to rush. He dropped the defeated pirate, seeking out Krieg. Somewhere in his mind, a small voice spoke, _Maybe he really didn't know..._

Smoker ignored the thought and sped up his search.

* * *

Marco woke up, ready to take on the day. However, his hopes of a peaceful day plummeted when he discovered the four missing presences. Ah, who was he kidding. Not once did he ever have a peaceful day when the brothers were around. So the 1st division commander tracked the auras of three boys and one girl to a remote dojo. The afternoon sun unleashed its fury on the earth but Marco didn't care. He knocked on the dojo door and was greeted by a kind man. After a brief chat, he headed back, disappointed he had missed the four. How on earth did he make a mistake? Was the hazy heat frying his brain? Marco quickened his pace, eagerly seeking the four.

* * *

In a cruel twist of fate, Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and Robin were separated. The three brothers wandered the burning town, searching for one another and Robin tried her very best to catch up to the three. Yet, she was held back by attacking pirates and marines, who had recognized her. Ace attacked just about everything that could fight. The freckled boy continued his run through the town until eventually he crossed paths with Krieg. Naturally, Ace immediately assaulted him.

Krieg evaded his pipe swing and glanced at his attacker, "What? A kid? You got a suicide wish?"

"Get outta my way!" Ace yelled at the pirate admiral, "I don't know what's going on, but you're in my way!"

He swung his pipe once more. It came in contact with Krieg's golden armor, barely making a dent.

"Hahaha! You think you can break my armor? I am Krieg! The strongest man in the East Blue! I am in-"

Ace struck his armor again, this time with a little bit of Haki. The armor shattered instantly, nailing Krieg right in the stomach. The once-glorified pirate collapsed on the ground and Ace continued nonchalantly. Shortly after Ace departed, Smoker appeared. At this point, the Krieg pirates had pretty much cleared the town, frightened by the boy with the pipe. The commander handcuffed the lifeless pirate, gesturing for some of his men to escort him to the ship while the others put out fires and rescued civilians. After questioning a grateful old man, he set off in search of the boy who defeated Krieg. Meanwhile, Robin, along with Luffy and Sabo, reunited with Ace.

"Ace!" Luffy cried out, embracing his big brother on sight.

"Where were you?" Sabo chided the hatless boy.

Ace shrugged, "Some bastard held me up, so I took care of him."

Robin shook her head in disapproval, "You shouldn't fight everyone you see, Ace."

"Can't help it,"

The four conversed, listening to their individual experiences during the very brief raid. They were about to head back when a voice ordered them to stop. The four turned to find a white-haired man wearing a marine jacket.

"Oi brat," Smoker yelled fiercely, "You, in the red shirt."

Ace stepped forward, a confused look in his eyes, "Whaddya want, bastard?"

Smoker approached the freckled boy, "How did you defeat Don Krieg?"

"I hit him,"

"I know that, it's just, you're a kid. Kids don't typically go around defeating pirates,"

"How do you know that?"

Smoker smacked his forehead in frustration, "I'm losing my patience, brat. Just tell me who you are."

"No,"

"No?"

"Yes, no,"

"Tell me who you are!"

"Who are you?" That was Luffy.

Smoker resisted the urge to slap the child, "A marine."

"Marine? Well, goodbye then!" Ace grabbed Luffy and tried to run but he was caught by the marine.

"You still haven't answered me,"

"Okay, we'll talk," The hatless brother finally complied, "Put us down."

Smoker reluctantly dropped the two children. As soon as they were set on the ground, Ace and Luffy delivered a simultaneous kick, landing the blow on Smoker's chest. The commander doubled over, clutching his abdominal area.

The four retreated, Luffy sticking his tongue out as they left. Smoker gritted his teeth, seething with fury, _Those damn brats..._

Robin flashed a smile at Ace and Luffy, "That was a bit mean, don't you think?"

"He was a marine, he deserved it," Ace responded, but his brothers knew the real reason. The three shuddered as they remembered Luffy's nightmare of a grandfather. Suddenly, a shout interrupted their thoughts.

"Oi!"

The four looked up to see Marco, soaring in the sky. A sigh of relief escaped Marco when he landed to find the group of four unharmed.

"Don't ever do that again-yoi!" The Phoenix exclaimed, "And why was the town on fire-yoi?"

Neither one of them knew what to say.

* * *

"Hold still, you damn bird!" Law wrestled a desperate seagull onto a table, trying to strap it down. The bird squawked repeatedly, pecking the amateur doctor's face. All of a sudden, the door flew open to reveal three familiar faces.

"Tora-O!" Luffy pounced on the already-occupied fourteen-year-old, allowing the terrified seagull to go free.

Law cursed under his breath and fought to tear off the clinging boy on his back, "Get off me, Straw Hat-ya!"

When he had finally detached the kid from him, Law headed to the mast, a syringe filled with liquid narcotics in hand, "Time to try this again."

The three watched Law stomp off, wondering why he was holding that sharp thing. It made him look like a deranged, psychotic doctor. After another three weeks at sea, they had finally made it back to the Moby Dick. Sabo told the tale of Zoro and the marine commander to anyone who wanted to listen, which was everyone but Law, who muttered bitterly while kidnapping unsuspecting seagulls. As night fell and the deck became less and less crowded, Robin advanced towards the bow and met Luffy, who lay on the floor stargazing.

"Aren't you going to go to bed?" She asked the grinning boy.

"No. I'm just wondering what kind of people will join my crew. I already asked Zoro,"

"Really?"

"Yeah! He's a good guy!"

She smiled warmly at the seven-year-old. Even if he was a bit slow, Luffy was definitely a good judge of character. She deeply hoped there were more people like him out there. The teen sat down next to the boy in the oversized straw hat.

"Say, Robin,"

"Yes?"

"When I get older, join my crew!"

She stared at the little boy like he had just grown two heads. Robin heaved a deep sigh, "Luffy, I'm sorry but I can't become a part of your crew. I'm part of the Whitebeards, remember?"

"Oh," The disappointment was apparent his voice.

"Well...I'll think about it,"

His disappointment dissipated and excitement gathered in his system, "Yay!"

The eighteen-year-old chuckled softly and glanced at the stars. In less than an hour, snores reached her ears and she turned towards the source to find Luffy sprawled on the floor, passed out. She picked up the sleeping boy and carried him to the men's quarters. Robin lay the straw hat wearing boy on the hammock next to Ace, Sabo, and Law before departing quickly. She headed straight to bed afterward, realizing how exhausted she really was. As Robin rested on her bed, she smiled and mused about how fortunate she was to have ever met Marco that very day.

* * *

 **A/N: And cut. Wait, this isn't a movie. *Gasps*. Anyway, I'm kind of sick of doing the same goes-to-island-and-saves-people-from-attacking-pirates plot so for chapters eight and nine, I'm going to mix it up a bit. Chapter nine is the final chapter focusing on their childhood. Did the arrival of Smoker and the Krieg pirates surprise you? Speaking of the Krieg pirates, what happens to them will be revealed during the Baratie arc. I don't really like this chapter all that much. It just didn't come out the way I would have liked it to. I hope you guys like it though. Lately, I've been getting a lot of inspiration strikes and random story ideas just enter my head at random times. I intend to start two new stories soon. The first is a story that I borrowed from HouseCity101 featuring Nico Robin as a spy and the second is an Usopp-centric story with our favorite long nose arrival at the weirdest school in the history of schools. Story 1 (Names, what are their names?) will debut around chapters 11-15 and story 2 will probably show up around chapters 15-21. I have a whole lot more ideas stored on my phone and those inspiration moments haven't stopped either. Next, romance. I definitely know I** _will not_ **put romance in A Tale of Four Siblings. I have never written romance before and I'm not sure i want to start now. But for the two new stories I have in mind, maybe I might include very, very, very, very, very, very, slight romance on the side. I'll leave it to you guys. I've already started working on story 1. Well, I believe that's all I have to say for now. I really don't want to write anymore. I will answer any concerns and you are free to critique this chapter as always. I'm gonna go now.**

 **Next Week: Lil' Garp in Marineford**


	8. Lil' Garp in Marineford

**Disclaimer**

 **Ever** **y time someone asks me if I own One Piece, I burst into tears.**

* * *

 **Lil' Garp in Marineford**

Jinbe stood at the helm of the former Sun Pirates ship. The whale shark fishman had departed his hometown of Fishman island to visit an old friend. He smiled fondly, remembering the day Whitebeard marched in and declared the underwater island his territory. Ever since that, life for them had greatly improved. A loud crash and Aladdin's estranged cry jerked the pirate captain-turned-Warlord out of his thoughts. Jinbe sighed as he watched his friend chase the young, energetic, new addition to their party.

"I'm bored~!" Monkey D. Luffy cried out for the umpteenth time. Aladdin managed to grab hold of the writhing boy and march him below deck. He heaved a sigh, they would arrive at the Red Line any hour from now. Fishman Island was near. The thrill of returning home after weeks at sea raced throughout him, energizing his sea-weary limbs. Aladdin climbed back up to the deck, closing the door to drown out Luffy's protests.

"Sailing sure is fun," The merman stated, "But there's really no place like home."

Jinbe nodded in agreement, his thoughts dancing between returning to Fishman Island and answering his call to Navy Headquarters. To be honest, he would much rather go with the former, but he didn't have much of a choice. It was either attend the meeting in Marineford or shatter the hopes and lives of his former crewmates. The fishman's features squeezed into a frown as he continued contemplating.

* * *

A huge weight was lifted off his shoulders when they arrived at Fishman Island. Yet it seemed like it was a lot more work keeping an invigorated Luffy from running off than keeping a bored Luffy occupied. He didn't want to face either scenario, but he'd rather deal with bored Luffy. The plan was to leave Luffy with Aladdin while he quickly attended the mandatory meeting, then ship the child back to Whitebeard. But it's Luffy. You might as well throw all plans out the window. So a simple trip to Aladdin's house and back evolved into an encounter with the Ryugu Family. The sudden arrival of King Neptune and his army alarmed the Warlord, fearing the worst for the island and its citizens. And, boy, was he right.

"What?! Princess Shirahoshi is missing?!" The whale shark questioned the king.

Neptune nodded, "Apparently, there are still some reckless fools stupid enough to go against a yonko."

"Indeed," Aladdin added in agreement.

"Wait!" Jinbe's eyes darted to his side, where a certain boy once stood, "Where's Luffy?"

While the two friends frantically searched for him, the said boy roamed a marketplace west of Jinbe's position. Overshadowed by the taller folks, the boy snuck around, nabbing apples and oranges from the stands of unaware purveyors. He identified a cart filled to the brim with fruit. The boy pondered creeping into the cart to pilfer the travelling merchant's goods. Surrendering to his ravenous appetite, Luffy clambered onto the cart, silently reveling in the abundance of food. Unbeknownst to the child, the cart began its trip downtown. Eventually, the boy with the straw hat dozed off. He only awoke when the cart came to a screeching halt, jolting him out of his blissful, meat-filled dream. He emerged from under the piles of meat. The boy was met with the sight of two bound figures, one regular-sized, the other was huge. A group of men whispered to each other, throwing glances at their captives every few seconds. They seemed to reach an agreement and disbanded from their circle to find a small boy holding an apple.

"Oi, brat," The first man addressed Luffy, "Whaddya want?"

Luffy gazed at the taller man, cheeks stuffed, "Why did you tie them up?"

To the men, it sounded more like 'Wa di ya cha zhem up'. The small boy gobbled up the rest of the apple, core included, then sauntered towards the captives.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The second man reached out to stop the rubber boy, who ignored them and got to work undoing the rope. His hand caught Luffy's arm, dragging him towards the others. The boy retaliated, whipping his rubber fist at the man's face and crushing his already messed up nose. He cried out in pain, falling backward into the soft dirt. His comrades took this as a sign of hostility, advancing on the child, weapons drawn and hollering in anger. Five minutes later, the two hostages were freed and unconscious bodies were strewn all over the place. The merchant picked himself up and departed from the scene immediately. The way he thought about it, he had displayed his thanks by not marching the kid to the police for stealing his produce. However, he was more concerned about the other captive, who just happened to be Princess Shirahoshi. The merchant was sure King Neptune would really like to learn the whereabouts of his daughter. Meanwhile, Shirahoshi relayed her thanks to her savior.

"T-thank you!" The blubbering princess managed to say, "I was so scared!"

"I already said it was fine," Luffy fought to escape the four-year-old's hug, "So why are you still crying?"

In reply, he received more sobs. The older child turned away and gazed longingly at where the cart used to be, "I'm hungry, hey, do you know a place I could get food?"

Shirahoshi paused her crying, "T-the cooks at the palace cook great f-food."

"Then what're we waiting for, let's go! So, where's this palace?"

"Father-sama knows where it is,"

"Huh? Your dad? Who's he?"

As if on cue, a voice called out to the giant princess, "Shirahoshi!"

"Luffy! There you are!" Another voice akin to Jinbe's yelled.

Both children turned to see a giant, relieved father racing towards hs daughter and a whale shark fishman with a peeved expression rushing to his charge. One expressed his delight at his daughter's safety while the other scolded his rambunctious charge. Having wrapped up his reunion, Neptune profusely thanked Luffy, offering to hold a banquet for the straw hat-wearing boy, who instantly said yes. Afterwards, Jinbe hauled the plump boy to Aladdin's house, reflecting on the events. Sure he would be late to the Warlord meeting, but at least Luffy was full and fast asleep. This was the perfect time to leave. He dropped the boy off at Aladdin's, then raced for his ship. After loading his provisions, which took at least three hours, Jinbe fled the island. His boat resurfaced an hour later and the journey to Marineford began.

* * *

 _How did things come to this?_ Jinbe thought as he raced through the halls of Marineford, _How the hell did he even get here?_

The Warlord turned the corner and collided headfirst with Vice Admiral Garp.

"Oh, Jinbe didn't see you there. Say, have you seen a boy with a straw hat running around?

"No, why?"

Garp sighed, "That boy's out of control. I'm really fixing to give that grandson of mine a good smack."

The older marine waved goodbye before sprinting off, leaving Jinbe frozen. _Grandson?_ The Warlord shook himself and continued his search for Luffy, hoping to get to the boy before Garp.

* * *

-Previously

Luffy dangled from the hand of Vice Admiral Kuzan, who presented him to Sengoku and Garp.

"Luffy?! What are you doing here?" The elderly Vice Admiral gaped at his grandson.

The boy took a sweeping glance of the room with uninterest written all across his face, passing his grandfather, before his eyes darted back to Garp, "Wha...How did y-Grandpa?!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the boy clawed Kuzan, dropped to the ground, and took off. His grandfather quickly followed in suit.

-Now

Luffy's legs kicked into overdrive, zipping through the hallways like something important, for instance, meat, depended on it. The boy stuck his foot out, kicking down a door in hopes of finding Jinbe. Instead, he found Smoker. Great. The straw hat-wearing boy threw a sandal at the commander, which landed right on his face. While he reeled from the pain, the seven-year-old bolted, back on the path to find Jinbe. The last thing he could remember was searching for food in Jinbe's belongings. Whatever, Jinbe probably knew.

* * *

Tsuru didn't know why a little boy had nearly mowed her down. After an apology and chat, she learned the boy's name was Luffy. The Vice Admiral frowned, Garp had mentioned a Luffy before, but she couldn't really remember. Old age was such a pain.

"Do you know where the food is?" Luffy questioned her. The elderly woman chuckled, was this boy Garp's mini me?

"Yes, I was just heading down there myself."

The boy followed her eagerly. Once they arrived at the cafeteria, Tsuru realized Luffy was really just a little Garp. The similarities were bizarre. The boy was a giant vacuum cleaner with an empty bag, he just kept eating more and more and more. After the meal, she decided to show Sengoku and Garp her new discovery.

While heading to the Admiral's office, Luffy suddenly stopped walking.

"Is something wrong, Luffy-kun?"

"Oh, yeah! I just remembered I need to find Jinbe!"

"Jinbe?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, I can take you to him, then. But do tell me, what does a boy like you have to do with Jinbe?"

* * *

The Vice Admiral and the boy entered the planning room. Momonga had left to complete a few urgent errands, leaving the Warlords alone. In the minutes they were left to themselves, pandemonium ensued. Crocodile and Doflamingo's quarrel had erupted into a fully-fledged fight, Moriah was bothering Hancock to the extent where her hand gripped the arm of her chair, turning her knuckles white, and a vein was visible on her forehead, Kuma and Mihawk sat still trying to hide their annoyment, Kuma doing a much better job than Mihawk, and Jinbe was nowhere to be seen. Tsuru cleared her throat and the chaos ceased.

"Do any of you know where Jinbe is?"

The word 'no' resounded throughout the room, to Luffy's disappointment.

"I remember him bursting through the doors when a soldier mentioned some brat was running rampant," Doflamingo stated.

The elderly woman raised an eyebrow, her eyes quickly darted to the little boy next to her, innocently picking his nose. Suddenly, Smoker burst through the door, drenched in sweat. The marine commander made eye contact with Luffy. He moved first, lunging for the little boy, much to Tsuru's surprise. Luffy jerked away, climbing onto the table. Smoker recovered and chased the boy out the door, into the hallways. Once again, Luffy's little feet burned rubber.

* * *

Garp saw Smoker bust into the planning room. He heard the commotion inside. Then he saw, with his own two eyes, Luffy burst out followed by the younger marine. Garp was old, but he wasn't deaf. Nor was he blind. The vice admiral raced after the two screaming his grandson's name. this reached Luffy's ears and prompted him to go faster. The boy planted his foot front of him, using his weight change his course rather quickly. Garp and Smoker crashed into the wall. Glancing back at the fallen marines, the seven-year-old boy collided with an unknown mass. He gazed up to meet Jinbe looking down at him. The fishman didn't give the boy a chance to speak before hauling away from Marineford as fast as possible. Garp, having recovered, chased after the two, screaming profanities unknown to most. The panicked Warlord hopped on board the closest departing battleship and told the captain to speed it up. Once the battleship reached Enies Lobby, he boarded his boat and left for Fishman Island. As Enies Lobby disappeared into the distance, Jinbe promised himself to never, ever volunteer to take Luffy anywhere. And no puppy eyes would change _that_.

* * *

 **A/N: Rejoice! After much turmoil and anguish, this chapter has been completed! I had planned a 4,000 word story, but here we are without one. You can thank my computer for that! As I write this, I am also working on chapter nine, so, yes, you will get it this week. I'm short on words and ready to take a break from writing today. I hope you enjoy this.**

 **Coming to a device near you: Nine Years**


	9. Nine Years

**Disclaimer**

 **Yes, I do own One Piece...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...But only in my dreams**

* * *

 **Nine Years**

* * *

 **Year 1: The Target is Marco**

Luffy lay sprawled on the floor, hoping to catch the eye of a wandering crew member. However, his efforts were for naught. The straw hat-wearing boy rose and trudged away in search of his brothers. As expected, he found Ace and Sabo training with Izou and Kingdew respectively. Luffy watched his older brothers and sighed. He wasn't anywhere near their levels of strength. Yet. The rubber boy's head shot up, a look of determination on his face. No matter, he would be strong. He was going to be the Pirate King and nothing would stop him. Yeah. He marched off, his soul engulfed with the desire to surpass his brothers. Upon seeing Marco, all of his previous thoughts dissipated and were replaced by devious plots and actions. Marco, although he had no idea this was so, was Luffy's mischief trigger. Luffy scampered off, already planning how he would go about the prank. Without Ace and Sabo. Yes, he would orchestrate a prank that they would play no part in. The seven-year-old headed off to find an idea source.

"Thatch!" He cried as he spotted the swordsman. Thatch turned, a soft groan escaping his lips.

"What now, Luffy?"

"Help me prank Marco!"

This snagged the older man's interest, "Prank, you say? Well, I am a bit of a prankster, but the last thing I want is Marco on my tail."

"But Thatch!"

He reconsidered the offer before sighing, "Okay, fine, I'll do it. How you want to prank him?"

"Let's get Marco to eat an onion," Luffy jumped, eyes filled with mischief.

After speaking with the cook, the two invited Marco to share some candy apples. To Thatch's surprise, he reached for one immediately. Thatch and Luffy also picked an apple. Each person bit the fruit, expecting the delicious fruit flesh along with a sweet hint of apple juice. One did not taste that. One did not taste that at all.

Thatch tripped in surprise and spat the apple, or rather, onion piece out of his mouth. "H-how? Ugh, I need water, water!" The 4th division commander raced to the kitchen, seeking the relief of water.

The remaining two laughed till their sides ached, much to the other crew members' puzzlement. Ace and Sabo returned from their previous training, sweat drenching their clothes.

"What happened?" Sabo asked Marco, who was still rolling on the floor.

"You missed it," Luffy panted as he filled his clueless brothers in on the current events, "Thatch ate an onion."

"Willingly?!" Ace gaped at his brother.

Luffy and Marco shared a look before bursting into laughter once more. The two older brothers raised an eyebrow before going after the prankster-turned-pranked. Meanwhile, as he swallowed cup after cup of water, Thatch silently cursed himself for easily falling into their trap.

* * *

 **Year 2: How to Incur the Wrath of a Marine**

Cannonball after cannonball exploded inches away from their fishing boat. Ace tackled his brother as a flaming projectile singed the tips of his blonde hair. They were firing flaming cannonballs. How did they even achieve that?

"Luffy! Stop blocking those cannonballs. Let Law handle them,"

The two withdrew from the sides and Law stepped up, slicing anything that came near. Ace urged Sabo to leave the marine ships to them and go man the helm. The top-hatted teen reluctantly agreed and sprinted away. Ace smacked away a flaming projectile with his haki-imbued pipe.

"Ace!" Luffy yelped in alarm, "We've got company."

Ace turned to the direction his younger brother was pointing in and clenched his teeth. This was the fifth time this month ol' Smoky decided to ambush them on their weekly fishing trip. The freckled boy wasn't quite aware why, but the man seemed to resent them, Luffy in particular. The marine commander landed onboard, immediately firing his fists towards Ace, the nearest offender. The twelve-year-old ducked and struck his shin. Smoker buckled, instinctively sticking out an arm to support his leg. Luffy launched himself towards the marine with a 'Gomu Gomu no Rocket', diving headfirst into Smoker's gut. The force expelled blood out of the navy soldier's mouth and propelled him into the side of the ship. Smoker struggled to rise, clutching his stomach and panting heavily. He looked up and was met by the butt of a sword, knocking him overboard. As Smoker descended towards the ocean bottom, one thought filled his mind, flattening anything else.

 _I'm gonna kill those kids if it's the last thing I do._

* * *

 **Year 3: Leaving for Good**

"So you're leaving?" Luffy questioned Law who was in the midst of moving his belongings onto his boat, "For good?"

The seventeen-year-old rolled his eyes, "For the last time, Luffy, yes I am leaving for good."

The Whitebeards had stopped at an uninhabited island to bid farewell to the teen. Law had made remarkable progress over the years, studying medicine and improving combat skills. However, the boy seemed to have skidded way too close to the crazy side after beginning his seagull practice surgeries.

Ace clapped the prodigious doctor on the back, surprising him, "Okay, you're all packed!"

He grunted in reply, rubbing the sore spot in which Ace's palm had met his spine. The teen took a final glance at his home for three years, basking in the memories radiating from the crew. As much as he hated to admit it, Law would miss them dearly. Even Luffy. Yes, Luffy, the boy responsible for butchering his name. He shuddered at the thought of the sobriquet, Tra-O. Ugh.

Robin approached the younger boy, "Now that you're leaving, what do you plan to do?"

Law paused before answering, "What do you think?"

"I didn't think you'd be the type to go down the pirate path. I thought you were going to pursue the medical career."

"When I decided to stay with the Whitebeards, all chances of ever living a normal life was thrown out the window. Besides, normal is boring. Who says I can't be both, anyway?"

The raven-haired woman smiled, "Well, now that I think about it, the pirate life would suit you just fine." She moved in closer until her lips were next to his ear, "Just watch out for him, okay?"

The younger gave a tiny nod and boarded his boat of possibilities, leaving behind the goodbyes and good lucks of his crazy family. Thatch, in particular, blew his nose(yes, he was crying) and said something that sounded like 'they grow up so fast'. The three terrors bounced around, flailing their arms and shouting promises for the future. They had even made a flag for him, a navy blue 'L' with crossbones, which was tied to his mast and flapping proudly in the breeze. Robin stood still, a small smile rested on her lips. With one last smirk, he turned to face the magnificent ocean. As soon as the island disappeared from the horizon, Law rushed below deck to check on a squirming bag. Satisfied, he headed back up to begin his adventure.

* * *

 **Year 4: Induction**

A bottle of sake in hand, fourteen-year-old Ace led Robin to the bow of the Moby Dick. The bow was seldom occupied and had always been a hangout spot for them. Therefore, he felt that the bow would be the best place for this. As they arrived, the two saw the other brothers having an arm wrestle which Sabo quickly won.

The freckled teen cleared his throat, "Now that I have your attention, let's begin what we wanted to do."

The other two closed in, forming a complete circle around a barrel. Resting on the barrel were four empty cups.

"So why did you bring me here?" Robin asked the three brothers.

"Robin," Ace began, "Remember when I almost fell down that cliff?"

"Of course. You were trying to catch Luffy's straw hat."

"Right. Even if I had miraculously saved myself, Luffy's beloved straw hat would be lost forever."

"You saved both Ace and Luffy's straw hat," Sabo chimed in.

"Oh, oh!" Luffy bounced up and down, "What about that time the bananadile nearly chomped Sabo's head off?"

The blonde boy's smile fell, "It was so huge, I hesitated. I would have been a goner if you didn't snap its neck."

"What about the time those pirates tried to capture me? Or the time that huge elephant nearly killed me? And the time Smo-"

Ace covered his rambling brother's mouth, "The point is, you've saved our asses a bunch of times. Also, Marco told me how you became a Whitebeard."

The raven-haired woman froze in place, "He did?" She said once regaining the ability to speak.

The freckled teen nodded, "We've all felt it at some point in life. Y'know, loneliness. Us three had each other, but you..."

Her eyes seemed foggy as if she was reliving the memories. Ace continued, "The Whitebeards are your family, but, from what Marco said, you haven't ever interacted with kids, not to mention be best friends with one. So we decided to make you a part of our family."

The fog of sadness in her eyes dissipated, confusion replacing it, "What?"

Sabo flashed a grin, "The Whitebeards can't be our guardians forever. One day, we'll all leave. But no matter where we are, we have to watch each other's back."

"Back at Mt. Colubo, Ace said our bond is so strong, it'll never die," Luffy added, "We'll always trust each other and rely on each other 'cause we aren't just friends; we're family. We never hide anything or keep secrets no matter what."

After sake flowed into the final cup, filling it, Ace handed one to each of them, herself included, "From this day on, we're family! Trust is stronger than blood!"

The cups met and each of them downed their share of sake. And Robin had never recalled shedding so many tears.

* * *

 **Year 5: A Match Made in Heaven**

"Ace! Ace, look!" Pre-teen Luffy tugged his brother's tan shirt.

The bored teen turned to him, grunting, "What is it now?"

"Some guy sold me a bird!" As proof, a loud squawk echoed from the heavens and a menacing parrot swooped down, landing on Luffy's outstretched hand.

"What made you wanna waste your money on that?"

"It's not wasting! I'm gonna teach him to do tricks!"

Ace waved off his naive brother, "Yeah, good luck with that."

The boy sauntered towards his blonde brother, who was checking out some antique gloves while a shady-looking guy explained about the "ancient civilization" they hailed from.

"Sabo!" He leaned on the said teen, knocking over a glove much to the merchant's chagrin, "When do we leave?"

"As soon as I find what I'm looking for."

"Are we just gonna stand here and waste money?"

"What a person wants to do with their money is their business."

The fifteen-year-old let out a long, guttural groan, leaning further and knocking off more gloves. It didn't take long for the merchant to shoo him away. Ace stuck his hands in his pockets, grumbling bitterly. Then, he saw it. Its orange hue shone in the sunlight. The red beads glistened as light and shadows danced across its surface. The boy wasted no time in getting to the stall where it rested. It cost a thousand berries to get that baby on his head, but it was _so_ worth it. Ace met his brothers during the late afternoon. Sabo's arms were piled with junk, and Luffy was covered in scratches and bruises, the scruffy bird from before perched on his head.

"Hey, Ace," Sabo said while wobbling, "What's with the hat?"

Ace stroked the side of his new possession, "I saw something that I liked."

The blonde teen raised an eyebrow, "You don't need a hat! Don't waste money like that!"

"C'mon! You and Luffy have hats! Besides, I recall you saying that what a person wants to do with _their_ money is _their_ business."

The pipe-wielding brother opened his mouth to argue, before realizing he had just been outsmarted by his freckled brother. The blonde threw Ace an approving look, "Touche."

The two smiled, ready to go back to the Moby Dick when they realized an important being is missing. Spotting him three stands away, the two older brothers ran towards Luffy, who was currently trying to buy a tiger from a man who reeked of suspicion.

* * *

 **Year 6: A Father's Regrets**

"Oyaji," Ace approached the yonko, "You called?"

Whitebeard glanced at the freckled teen, "Do you remember when you first came here?"

He rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Yeah."

"I've noticed that ever since that time, when someone mentions your father, you get angry and leave,"

The teenager dropped his gaze to the ground.

"Why is that?"

He refused to answer, bowing his head to hide his expression.

"You won't answer?"

No response at all. The yonko frowned, he didn't need to question him, the boy had revealed the answer through his actions.

"You hate him because he wasn't there for you, right?"

"No!" Ace raised his head, ice-cold fury hidden in his irises, "I hate him because no one wanted me to be born! And it's his fault! If they found out I was his son, everyone would want me dead! They would look at me and only see him! Is it fair that a child gets blamed for the actions of his father? Huh? Answer me, Oyaji!"

The legendary captain gestured for him to sit, "Let me tell you a story. A story of your father."

 _Roger and Whitebeard downed their sake, laughing heartily. Roger set down his cup, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "Hey, Whitebeard! A friend of mine asked me a question and I was wondering if you could answer it?"_

 _Whitebeard raised a brow, "And who is this friend?"_

 _The color drained from the Pirate King's face, "He's...err...um...H-he said he...wants to keep it a secret! Yeah, a secret!"_

 _"Is he one of your crew?"_

 _"Uh, yeah!"_

 _The legendary Edward Newgate inwardly sighed, he could already tell the pirate was hiding something, "What did your "friend" say?"_

 _"He has a wife who's expecting and he can't be with her or his child because he's a pirate, so he handed him over to a close friend. They're rivals, actually. He wants to know if this is the right thing to do."_

 _The pirate captain blinked twice, "And why are you telling me this?"_

 _"I thought you might know, you're a family guy, aren't you?"_

 _"Yeah, but-"_

 _"What would you do in this situation?"_

 _Whitebeard's fingers clenched his knee, a wondering look on the face of the pirate, "I guess I would want what's best for the kid and his mother, so I would let them live a normal life."_

 _Roger nodded, deep in thought, "Yeah, that's probably best. But he still feels guilty. What would happen if the secret went out? Everyone would hate him because of his father even though he didn't commit the same crimes."_

 _The fellow pirate stroked his moustache thoughtfully, "Tell your friend that he shouldn't regret it. His kid was born because somewhere in this world, there are people who need him or her."_

 _"Yeah...yeah! Thanks, Newgate! Thanks for giving me, I mean, my friend, such great advice!" The Pirate King rose and began shaking his rival's hand vigorously._

 _Whitebeard tried to shove the black-haired pirate away, "No problem, just stop shaking my hand!"_

Ace growled noisily, "That's not gonna change my mind, Oyaji!"

The veteran pirate sighed, "Fine. I just thought it's something you need to know."

The freckled teenager walked away, still grumbling angrily. But this time, for a new reason. He was angry because Oyaji's story had made a lasting impact. He still hated the man. He just didn't loathe his father like he used to.

* * *

 **Year 7: Decisions**

"So," Whitebeard gazed at Ace and Sabo, "Which is it?"

Both boys' eyes grew distant as if asking themselves if this was the path they would choose. Sabo stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"I've made my decision, Oyaji. No hard feelings, but I'm going to leave. I appreciate all you've done for us over the years, but staying would mean I'd have to give up my dream." The blonde teen's eyes brightened, as he uttered these three words, "To be free."

The veteran pirate captain smiled fondly at the young man, "I understand. Frankly, I would be surprised if you chose to stay." His head swiveled over to Ace, "So, Ace, what is your choice? I have a feeling I know what it is."

"Really now?" The freckled seventeen-year-old asked an eyebrow raised, "Then you shouldn't be surprised when I say I'm going to stay."

The reaction was priceless. All the Whitebeards, with the exception of Robin and Whitebeard, who had mild surprise on his face, either tripped on some imaginary object, flew up five feet in the air or projected their eyes out of their sockets. Sabo and Luffy had similar responses.

Ace glanced at his new fellow crewmates, "What?"

The Whitebeard pirates recovered, dusting themselves, welcoming Ace into the crew. In honor of Ace joining the crew and Sabo's departure, they threw a feast. The next day, Sabo borrowed one of their spare boats. His siblings gathered to watch him go.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," The top-hatted young man spoke.

"No, it isn't!" Luffy folded his arms, "We're gonna see each other again, so we shouldn't say goodbye like we won't!"

"Luffy has a point," Robin noted, "We will see each other again. How about we use a Vivre Card so we can find each other?"

"But whose?" Ace scratched his head.

"Luffy's," Sabo pointed at his straw hat-wearing brother, "He came up with the idea."

The others, save for Luffy, agreed to the proposal. After persuading the youngest sibling that the process wouldn't hurt, then hearing him discover otherwise, Ace divided Luffy's Vivre Card into five pieces. He handed two to Sabo, stating that he was to give one to Law if they ever meet, and one to Luffy, Robin, and himself, in case they ever got split up. Afterward, Sabo boarded his boat. With one last glance at the Moby Dick, he set off for a life filled with adventure and freedom.

* * *

 **Year 8: All Hail Commander Flamey Guy!**

"Hey, Teach!"

Teach glanced at the eighteen-year-old approaching him, "Yeah?"

He threw him a wondering gaze, "You're in the second division, right?"

"Yeah?"

The freckled teen fiddled with his hands, "I was wondering if you knew what happened to the 2nd division commander. I've never seen him before."

The older man scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Well, none of us are even sure if he's still alive. I remember the fateful day a group from the second division, along with our commander, got captured by the marines. When they got back, he wasn't with them. They said he had sacrificed himself for them, and he wanted them to tell Oyaji not to come after him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We think he's been sent to Impel Down, but worse could've happened. Despite that, we have reason to think he's still alive. A week after his capture, we received a box with a note. Oyaji's kept it in the safe ever since."

"The safe?"

"The place where we keep precious things like devil fruits."

"Oh," Ace frowned, running a hand through his sleek, dark hair, "So if he's apparently in Impel Down, why don't we have a new commander?"

"Ace, Ace, Ace," Teach shook his head, "The position's special. We're not about to give it to some chump who thinks he's hot stuff. Everyone admired the 2nd division commander. To fill his position, one has to reach higher than the already-high expectations."

"Oh, okay!" He waved at the older pirate before setting out to find his troublesome brother. The hardships on the Moby Dick had increased tenfold ever since Sabo's departure, most of it Luffy-inflicted. Robin would usually help him out, but she was on a trip with Marco, who began to frequently go on these trips and take longer than expected. How fishy, Thatch would say. Ace activated his haki, searching for the fifteen-year-old boy. Strangely, he found the boy below deck, looking at something. Ace descended, intent on finding out what his brother was doing.

Meanwhile, Thatch and Jozu scratched their heads as they gazed at Whitebeard.

"I don't know," The 4th division commander said, "He seems a little too...irresponsible. Plus, we don't even know if-"

"I think he's a great choice," Jozu interjected, "Just look at all the things he's done. Family seems to be very important to him. And sure, he's a little on the wild side, but I think taking care of Luffy for the past year has taught him quite a bit about being responsible."

"You have a point there, Jozu."

"Then it's decided." Whitebeard concluded, "Just one more thing. Who's going to break the news to Marco?"

"Not it!" The division commanders yelled simultaneously.

The legendary pirate captain heaved a great sigh. A couple of floors down, Ace tracked his brother to a menacing, ajar door. Inside stood a guilty-looking teenager and an open box.

"Luffy! What're you doing?"

"Uh, nothing!" The said boy put his hands behind his back, grinning nervously.

Ace wasted no time in grabbing the object hidden behind the teen's back.

"A fruit? What the hell, Luffy, did you steal this from the kitchen?"

"No, I-"

"Eh, whatever, I was getting kinda hungry," The freckled young man bit into the fruit flesh, swallowing the bite, before dropping the fruit and clutching his stomach, "Oog, that was such a bad idea."

Luffy gasped, "Ace! I didn't steal that! It was in that box!"

Ace grabbed the said box. In it, lay a note.

 _Do not fear, Oyaji and family  
I am alive and well  
Here is a gift from my current hiding place  
Give this fruit to the person you deem worthy of my position_

"It's a devil fruit, Ace!" Luffy grabbed his older brother's shoulders, shaking them to emphasize the terror of the situation.

The freckled teen gulped before trudging up to proclaim the news. He met everyone gathered on deck, save for Marco and Robin.

"Um, hello, fancy meeting you guys here."

Ignoring the teenager's guilty behavior, Thatch spoke up, "Ace, lately, we've been thinking that we're going to need a new 2nd division commander. We-"

"Wait, where are you going with this?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you have proved to be a very capable le-"

"We want to make you 2nd division commander," Jozu interrupted the swordsman's speech, much to his annoyance.

"Me?" Ace gaped at the 3rd division commander, "2nd division? But I thought that position was sacred! Why would you make me 2nd division commander?"

"Ace," Whitebeard started, "You have proved worthy on many occasions. You have grown exponentially in power and proved your loyalty to family many times. Why wouldn't we make you commander of the 2nd division?"

"But I ate the fruit in the box," He said, "On accident, of course."

There was a pause as the Whitebeards processed this news. Then, Whitebeard burst into laughter.

"Gurarararara! Then that saves us the trouble of getting you to eat it!"

The pirates agreed, much to the teen's flabbergast, "Wait! Do we even know what type of fruit it is?"

Thatch rolled his eyes, "It's the Mera Mera no mi. It's a fire logia. Quit stressing so much, Ace!"

Ace exhaled in relief, and his eyes lit up moments after, "Wait! If I'm 2nd division commander now, does that mean I outrank you?"

"Yes, yes it does, Ace."

"I believe you must refer to me as Commander Ace now, Thatch."

"How about Commander Flamey Guy?"

"Commander _what?_ "

"Yeah, that's what all I'll call you. All hail Commander Flamey Guy!"

The Whitebeards threw a large feast in honor of their new commander. As usual, Ace and Luffy outmatched everyone else, Luffy a smidgeon more than his brother. They played with the properties of Ace's devil fruit, marveling at its power. The party continued until a lookout spotted a ship. Discovering the ship to be Marco's, the pirate crew welcomed their crewmates who had left for the excursion but were surprised to see only Marco board the Moby Dick. The blonde man fell to his knees, gripping his kneecaps.

"I'm sorry, Oyaji."

The seasoned pirate frowned, "Sorry about what?"

The commander gritted his teeth, his knuckles whitening as he applied pressure to his grip, "They took her, Oyaji! From right under my nose!"

The noise had died down, all eyes on the bandaged pirate.

"They kidnapped Robin!"

* * *

 **Year 9: What the Hell Have You** **Done?!**

 _Foosha Village_

"Mayor! Mayor, look!"

Woop Slap turned towards the source of the voice, "What?"

The elder grabbed the newspaper from the hand of the man, quickly scanning over the page. He let out an alarmed shout a few seconds later, dropping the paper and screaming for Makino. The barmaid rushed over to the mayor, fearing the worst. He handed her the newspaper, bracing for a loud scream but it never came.

"Wow," She said, scratching her head, "I wonder why they did this."

Woop Slap gaped at the younger woman, "Why are you so calm? This is something we should panic about!"

"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be able to handle the unwanted attention they've now acquired. After all, they're strong and have probably only gotten stronger."

Most of the village inhabitants had gathered now, cheering at the news.

"That's our boy!"

"Go get 'em!"

"Hooray for Luffy!"

"This isn't something we should be celebrating," He shrieked, seething so much you could practically see the fumes of smoke exiting his ears. Ignoring his protests, the village threw a celebration.

 _Mt Colubo_

"What?" The screams of the mountain bandits echoed throughout the forest.

The entire Dadan Family crouched over the single newspaper, surprise, and shock written all over their faces.

Curly Dadan's gaze remained transfixed on the page, taking in every single detail again. She set the paper down and shook her head.

"Nope, I still don't believe it."

"Check again, boss! Maybe you misread!" Dogra stated simply, infuriating Dadan.

"My eyesight is just fine! Are you implying I'm getting old?"

Mogra patted the fuming bandit, "Calm down, boss. I'm sure you didn't misread anything. We should be proud of them for becoming this infamous."

"Yeah," The orange-haired woman nodded in agreement, "But why do I get the feeling Garp is gonna blame us for this?"

 _An island in Paradise_

 _Those idiots,_ he thought. This was just typical Luffy and Ace. He figured they'd do something like that without the supervision of a responsible person. Which is why he was confused. Robin was on board, wasn't she? Sabo told him nothing of her leaving. He just dropped by, filled him in on current events and left him with a present. He closed the newspaper and grabbed his prized sword, heading back to his crewmates. A few minutes earlier, Bepo had informed him that the log had set, and they were ready to set off at any time. He clung to Kikoku, strolling towards his submarine.

 _Those damn idiots._

 _A certain island in the East Blue_

He nodded approvingly upon seeing the paper. It was nice knowing Ace wasn't dead yet. He wondered if the brothers had already begun their individual lifetime objective. Zoro decided he would wait until one of them came. He would train here on the island until one brother came, preferably not Luffy. despite not wanting to have to answer to the straw hat-wearing boy, the swordsman had to acknowledge his drive. So as his fishing boat set off, he contemplated which one would recruit him. After all, if he was going to be a pirate he would only do it under one of them. Even Luffy.

 _Fishman Island_

Was he glad he wasn't responsible for Luffy at the time those events took place. Sengoku would flip. Jinbe and Aladdin frowned at the paper. Man, the navy was going to throw the biggest conniption ever seen.

 _Marineford_

Sengoku was mad, but Garp was a live volcano of anger. Tsuru watched the Fleet Admiral pace up and down, wringing his hands and trying not to go on a meaningless rampage. Garp wasn't doing a good job keeping himself under control. The marine hero kept smashing stuff, his hands formed into balled fists that wouldn't relent or relax.

"This is all Dadan's fault!" he kept muttering as he destroyed innocent objects out of sheer rage.

The elder woman heaved a sigh. The poor soldier who had brought the bad news suffered the wrath of Garp's icy glare. With all that anger clammed in one look, she thought the poor man would spontaneously combust. But, instead of stating that the two were overreacting, Tsuru sat silently, watching Sengoku clench and unclench his fists and Garp chuck a haki-imbued senbei through the window.

 _A marine battleship in the New World_

Smoker wasn't mad. Not one bit. If anything, he was happy. The marine captain now had an excuse to mercilessly hunt down Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace. The opportunity for revenge was upon him, and boy, would he use it.

 _The Moby Dick_

"Are you _insane_?" Thatch screamed at Ace and Luffy, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

In response to his question, the brothers shook their heads.

* * *

 **A/N: And done! I originally meant for this to be drabbles, but I love adding details so much; I couldn't really resist. I'll divide up everything I want to say by years.**

 **Year 1: You thought he was actually going to prank Marco, didn't you? The backstory is he did initially try to prank Marco, failing miserably. Marco convinced him to prank Thatch and...you know the story.**

 **Year 2: Just a reason for Smoker to hate Luffy and Ace more and more. Alabasta is going to be real fun!**

 **Year 3: I originally planned for only Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and Robin to be on the Whitebeard ship. Law's appearance was never actually supposed to happen. Nevertheless, I have a lot planned for him. Law's future is "bright".**

 **Year 4: Don't have anything to say about this one.**

 **Year 5: I hope to start a ship about Ace and his hat. Think about it. *evil chuckle***

 **Year 6: The way I see it, one story is not going to change Ace's view of Roger by a lot, but it can still leave an impact.**

 **Year 7: Sabo and his crew will show up in the story later on. There may be one or two OCs.**

 **Year 8: How do you like the story of the first 2nd division commander? I'm not sure what to do with him, though. Guess who's Robin's kidnapper.**

 **Year 9: What did Ace and Luffy do? You'll see.**

 **I think I'll use the majority of this week to correct any mistakes made in the past eight chapters. If I have time, I'll try to start and finish chapter 10. I can't make any promises. I hope you like this idea. Feel free to point out mistakes, comment, criticize, all is welcome.**

 **Next week (Or the week after that): When Two Brothers Part**


	10. When Two Brothers Part

**Disclaimer**

 **I wish I owned Shueisha Inc.**

* * *

 **When Two Brothers Part**

* * *

 _A year ago_

 _Whitebeard gazed at the boy in front of him, once so small, now all grown up. It brought a smile to the aging pirate's face._

 _"Luffy, let's talk," The said teen cocked his head sideways in confusion but sat down, crossing his legs, anyway._

 _A glint of grief illuminated the Yonko's eyes, "I assume you've seen Marco lately."_

 _He nodded solemnly for probably the first time in his sixteen years._

 _"Ever since Robin's abduction, he's become an unraveling ball of yarn. And he's unraveling fast. So, promise me this..."_

 _The amount of attention he was getting from the normally cheerful boy was startling... and kinda scary. The only time Luffy would ever pay heed to a conversation is when it involved food, adventure, or pirates._

 _"I know you are going to set out to sea. When you do, look out for Robin. Find her, no matter what."_

 _Luffy's tightened lips relaxed into a slight smile, "Don't worry, Oyaji. I was gonna do that anyway. Besides that, can I ask you for a favor?"_

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

Those words were enough to make Ace rip out his hair. At least, after they've been said a thousand times. He glanced at Luffy, a crew-less, shipless pirate with a big dream ready to sail the high seas. Truth be told, a tiny bit of the freckled division commander wished his brother had joined the Whitebeards and become his right-hand man. After all, the world knew them as the daring D. brothers, rubber and fire. Why spoil that good of a reputation by letting one of the brothers leave to form his own crew? The rest of him was happy to see Luffy finally off to complete his dream. Luffy would be a thousand times better Pirate King than the man whose name shall not be mentioned. Or any other chum out there. He gazed at the young man who was rooting for only to stare at empty air. Ace bolted from his seat to the place where Luffy once stood. He looked below to see Luffy on a fishing boat, gazing out to sea.

"Hey, Luffy, who said you could do that?"

"Thatch," Was the answer.

The twenty-year-old sighed heavily then headed back to his seat. Man, taking care of Luffy was hard. Maybe he should have set out with Sabo. Ace yawned loudly, nodding off as his brother sailed towards a huge whirlpool.

* * *

Iron Mace Alvida glared daggers at the skinny teen clad in a red vest and blue shorts. A stitched scar lay below his left eye as he stared back, defiance radiating off him. An aged straw hat rested atop his black-haired dome. He seemed slightly familiar, though Alvida wasn't sure why she would recognize some kid. All she cared about was getting the arrogant brat of her ship.

"So do you have a ship or not?" He uttered with slight annoyance and boredom. The female pirate's rage meter rocketed upwards by two notches.

"You insolent brat! How dare you speak to the most beautiful woman on the seas like that?"

The stranger turned his head, surveying the area, "Where is she? I don't see her."

"Me, you imbecile! I'm the most beautiful woman on the seas!" She advanced with every word until the two were only five feet apart.

His eyes rested on her for several seconds, trying to register what she just said; that the rotund person in front of him was the most beautiful woman on the seas.

"Who told you that lie?" He finally spoke, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

In response, he received a mace strike to the head. The entire crew winced, expecting the stranger to drop to the floor, limp as a ragdoll. Instead, he knocked the mace out of Alvida's hand and delivered a swift punch to her gut. The pirate captain flew across the deck and into the deep blue sea. Alvida's crew gaped at where their captain once stood. The stranger straightened himself, adjusting his slightly off-center straw hat.

"Alright! Now that's settled, can you take me to my brother?"

* * *

All the marines of the 153rd branch were gathered at the execution ground for Captain Morgan's son Helmeppo's special event. Seven soldiers armed with rifles stood, saluting Morgan and his son as they passed by them. They stopped walking and turned to the person awaiting capital punishment.

A Seaman Apprentice pulled out a paper and cleared his throat, "We will now commence the execution of the accused. Roronoa Zoro, death by firing squad!"

"Ready..." The soldiers cocked the guns, awaiting the order to kill the tied man in a green bandana.

"Aim..." Each muzzle found itself pointing at Roronoa Zoro.

"Fire!" Seven simultaneous bullets were fired. Zoro tightened his facial features, calling upon his will to help him.

* * *

"How could you just fall asleep while your brother sailed to who-knows-where?" The volume of Marco's voice decimated his eardrums.

"Don't blame me, blame Thatch!" Ace shot an accusing finger at Thatch, "He let him go!"

Thatch's veins became visible and he furrowed his brow, "I told Luffy to make you go with him! I don't know why he didn't."

Ace stepped closer, inches away from Thatch, "It's Luffy, what did you expect! And _make_ me? No one could make me do anything!"

Marco grabbed both commanders by the scruff of their necks, tearing them apart, "That's beside the point! Luffy's out on seas without a companion! We didn't have a chance to leave him with that Zoro brat."

Ace turned around, trying to hide his smile, "Well, truthfully, it wouldn't really make a difference either way."

Both older men raised an eyebrow at the comment before heading to the helm.

* * *

Luffy ignored the pirates onboard, who were still trembling from his earlier display of power. He didn't get why pirates in the East Blue were such wimps. He gripped the crown of his hat, memories flooding in as he touched the straw woven into it. He felt one of the pirates move towards him with his haki but said nothing until he spoke.

"Wow, you're really powerful."

The straw hat-wearing teen shrugged off the compliment, "I'm gonna have to be if I want to become the Pirate King."

It took a moment for the words to register, "P... P-P-P-P-Pirate King? Are you insane? There's an entire world of pirates seeking the One Piece! You can't possibly-"

The small pink-haired teen's words came to an abrupt halt as a fist landed on his shoulder. He clutched his arm, grimacing and rubbing it to feel better.

"Listen, if you really want your dreams to come true, you'll make them come true. And it won't matter if you die doing so. 'Cause it's better to die for your dream than quit and live."

The other boy's eyes glazed over in deep thought, "I have a dream. _Had_ a dream. I wanted to become a marine but..."

A long pause filled the air between the two as the pink-haired teen recollected his thoughts.

"... I ended up here."

Luffy's face scrunched up into a frown, "What do you mean _'had'_?"

"I can't become a marine because I'm on this ship! Even if I escape, the marines will never take me in! I guess just be a cabin boy forever and-"

He felt another blow on his shoulder, this one stung a bit more than the other.

"What the hell did you say? Did you just tell me that your dream is dead? Dreams don't die unless you want them to die!"

His eyes widened as he gazed at the teen before him, "I guess I've never thought of it that way before."

Another pause followed as the cabin boy contemplated the pirate's words.

"Do you think that I can become a marine?"

Luffy's eyes gazed at the ocean's horizon, "I dunno. You seem pretty weak and you whine a lot and you don't look very fun. If you wanted to, I wouldn't let you on my crew!"

The pink-haired teen gaped at the other teen, slightly hurting from his blunt comment.

"But you could do it if you would willingly die to do so," He continued, "But only if you have the determination."

 _Determination..._ He nodded, slowly at first, then a wild grin broke out onto his face, "Thank you... err... what's your name?"

"Monkey D. Luffy. The man who will become the Pirate King."

"Nice to meet you, Luffy-san, I'm Coby."

He grinned and chuckled, an unusual 'shishishi' sound filled the air, "Yo! Say, Coby, when's lunchtime? I'm starving!"

* * *

The entire 153rd branch stared with airborne eyes and empty eye sockets at where seven bullets had just ended their journey. However, none accomplished the job. Still bound to the post, Zoro glared at the navy soldiers. He was coated in a black, shiny substance.

A low grumble escaped the swordsman's mouth, "Now you've gone and done it."

He rose to his full height, his arms easily snapping the ropes. The man cracked his knuckles, surveying the frozen marines.

"You helped me unlock my haki. That's good news."

Swifter than the wind, he punched the nearest marine in the jaw. Crouching over the fallen soldier, Zoro drew his broadsword, brandishing it to intimidate the remaining soldiers.

"Well... For me, anyway."

* * *

 **A/N: Sooooo? How was it? Not much action in this one. Or the next few, the way I see it. It depends on a person's definition of action. I plan to make this story differentiate from the real storyline as much as possible. It'll be a lot harder with arcs like this one, Skypiea, and Thriller Bark but I'll try my best. Anyway, that's all for now.**

 **Next week: Shenanigans at Shells Town**


	11. Shenanigans in Shells Town

**Disclaimer**

 **Doesn't the word 'disclaimer' say it all?**

* * *

 **This is not the author's note, just something I thought I'd add. I won't reveal all the details, but I will tell you three things about Robin's kidnapping. 1)** ** _Maybe_** **Crocodile isn't to blame. 2) Men with power blackmail. 3) Perhaps Robin's kidnapping indirectly caused one dynamic duo to do something everyone wants to do, yet no one has the guts to. If it seems unclear, then that means I'm doing something right. All will be answered during the Alabasta arc.**

* * *

 **Shenanig** **ans** **in Shells Town**

* * *

Helmeppo ran as fast as his skinny legs could take him. Why? Because a deranged swordsman coated in shiny, black stuff and wielding _three_ broadswords was right behind him. And he sure as hell didn't want to find out why. He already had a faint idea. Might have had something to do with tying him up and starving him for most of this month. As he looked back, the spoiled son realized that maybe he shouldn't have poked the wild animal. Well, how should he know that the animal, though tired, wounded, and ravenous, would hold a grudge? And how should he have foreseen the animal break free from its bounds after he caged it? As the animal snapped (or swung his blades) at him, Helmeppo's legs went into overdrive.

* * *

"Luffy-san!" Coby yelled, joy evident in his voice, "Look, Luffy-san, there's land!"

Luffy peered out from behind a barrel he leaned against. Sure enough, a small island came into view.

"Land? Awesome! Maybe Ace, Thatch, and Marco are already there!"

Coby approached the seventeen-year-old, "Who are they?"

A wide grin spread across the teen's face, "They're my friends."

* * *

 _Shit,_ He weaved through the hallways of the marine base, _I lost that bastard._

The effects of his haki were already wearing off as his left leg was completely exposed. He tried to force the haki to stay, but he didn't have full control of it. It was the same result he had received with Kenbunshoku Haki. He had unlocked his haki but had absolutely no control over it. Zoro knew he could control it. He had witnessed Ace do so ten years ago. The swordsman frowned deeply, it was getting harder and harder to keep moving. His limbs were tightening, and his breath was ragged. Picking up the pace, he busted down the first door in sight and a victorious smirk appeared on his face. He found two things, one he was looking for and one he wasn't. His swords and the bastard.

* * *

"I don't even know why Sengoku bothered sending me here. I'd fill the New World to the brim with marines if I was him," Garp spoke, most of the words garbled by the senbei in his mouth, "More importantly, I don't understand why you have to come along."

"To keep an eye on you, sir," Vice Admiral Strawberry responded, his face impassive, "Fleet Admiral-dono made it very clear that I am to do that."

The older man crossed his hands and turned away, a rather fierce pout on his face, "I would have preferred John Giant over you. He's fun."

"Sir, John Giant is usually very stern."

"Not when you give him alcohol."

Strawberry nodded before walking towards the helm. After a brief chat with the helmsman, he returned.

"It seems that we are approaching our destination, sir."

Garp let out a loud, long sigh, "Why are we coming here again?"

Strawberry's calm voice spoke once more, "Fleet Admiral-dono sent a Master Petty Chief Officer from headquarters here to investigate some suspicious events. The officer has now made contact with us and confirmed these happenings."

"So who's the offender?"

"The head of the base himself, Captain Morgan."

Bits of senbei flew out of the Vice Admiral's mouth as he said these next words, "What? A traitor to the cause?"

"Yes, sir."

"So why did Sengoku send us?"

Strawberry paused, unsure of how to answer without awakening the rage of The Fist, "He wanted you as far away from headquarters as possible because he was afraid you would destroy something major with all that pent-up rage from ten years ago."

The mere mention of the subject caused Garp to stomp his left foot, which went right through the floorboards. It didn't help that they were in the prison hold. As Garp began to panic, Strawberry sighed as he marched upstairs to get the shipwrights, calling on his inner reserves of tranquility to help him survive the rest of this trip.

* * *

Coby, in his current situation, couldn't say anything. As he clung to Luffy's arm, trying to avoid falling to his death or seriously injuring himself, he wondered. How did he, a teen doomed to be a cabin boy for the rest of his life, end up flying through the air with the most enthusiastic pirate he's ever met to find a demonic bounty hunter? His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden crash into the ground. Coby lifted himself up, one arm rubbing the left side of his sore face. He could hear footsteps coming to a halt, then the sounds of blades clashing. Shortly afterward, the swords clattered on the ground and two thuds suggested the fall of two people. He raised his heads and was met with of the sight a man completely covered with a shiny, black coating with the exception of his left leg, right forearm, and the area surrounding his right eye, making him look really demonic.

Luffy's eyes lit up, "Whoa, Zoro, you can use haki!"

The said man smirked, glancing at his left arm, "Not really. I can't control it."

"Huh? You can't?"

"It's hard enough to unlock this thing by myself, you know," The swordsman retorted, seemingly annoyed. He glanced at Coby with an eyebrow raised, "Who's he?"

"Oh, he's Coby. He wants to join the marines."

"And he's traveling with you..."

"Yeah!"

The swordsman stared at straw hat-wearing teen and heaved a sigh, "So how did you get here?"

"Well, this morning we..." Coby began, rubbing his neck.

 _The waves lapped against the small boat Luffy and Coby were in. Luffy's finger explored his nose and Coby stared at the shore, wondering what they would find there. The two had set out to shore alone because the Alvida Pirates refused to, claiming that there was a marine base on the island. Despite that warning, Luffy still left and Coby was beginning to think he was not very responsible for an aspiring pirate captain. Minutes later, Luffy strolled into the town and Coby followed behind. The pink-haired boy noticed the looks on the townpeople's face as their eyes followed Luffy's every move. This worried the teen, but he put it at the back of his mind, more worried about where Luffy was headed. He continued after the taller teen until a huge base loomed over them._

 _"Luffy-san, why are we here?"  
_

 _Luffy turned to face Coby, one of his eyebrows were raised, "Didn't you say you wanted to become a marine?"_

 _"Y-yeah, but don't you want to find your friends?"_

 _"They aren't here yet."_

 _The pink-haired teenager's eyes widened, "How did you know that?"_

 _"Haki," After saying the word, he froze and his eyes darted around, trying to locate something._

 _Coby frowned and gazed at the taller teen. He stood there for a few minutes before firing his arm upwards. To his surprise, it stretched, up and over the wall. A hand gripped his arm moments before he was suddenly jerked skyward. The teenager turned pale as he realized the floor was no longer beneath his feet._

 _"Lu-Luffy-san!"_

 _"Hang on, Coby!" Luffy's voice somehow found its way into his ears through the blood roaring in his ears and the wind's howls, "We're going to save Zoro!"_

"I don't know why you came, it's not like I needed any help," The swordsman said, brushing the dirt off his left pant leg.

Opposite of Zoro, Luffy scratched his head with an eyebrow raised, "What? I came to ask you to join my crew, of course. You haven't joined Sabo's, have you?"

"I plan to join Ace."

"Ace joined Oyaji's crew. He's part of the Whitebeards now."

The tallest teen blinked, pulling his hand towards him and set it on the spot on his face devoid of haki, which seemed to have widened. It remained there for a few seconds before dropping down to his side.

"Never thought Ace would join someone's crew. Where's Sabo and that girl?"

Luffy placed both hands behind his head, a huge grin spread across his face, "Well, Sabo set out three years ago and Robin..."

The corners of his mouth dropped and his head tilted slightly forward so the straw hat's brim shadowed his eyes.

A few moments later, he rose his head, a thin line replacing his usual smile, "I tell you later."

Zoro opened his mouth to speak but shouts and yells blocked out his words. A furious roar suggesting trouble filled the air, and the two shot off, Coby being a bit slower to follow. Sure enough, Captain Morgan's heavy footsteps and metal jaw sounded throughout the once deserted execution yard. The trio quickened the pace, heading for the ajar gates. Suddenly, the noise came to a halt. The footsteps ceased and a crunching noise resounded followed by a loud thud. There were simultaneous thumps and a heavy sigh along with ragged breathing and one set of approaching footsteps with a pace slower than before. Coby looked over his shoulder for a fraction of a second and could not contain the gasp of horror and awe in reaction to the sight. Luffy and Zoro slowed their feet to a halt and turned to look. Luffy, like Coby, gasped, much to Zoro's surprise. The said swordsman drew one of his katana, gritting his teeth and cursing. Before them stood Garp, dusting off his dirtied suit, Morgan, clutching his stomach and coughing up blood, Strawberry, calmly sauntering forward, and a crowd of marines, staring at Garp and cowering in fear. Garp raised his head to face the trio, scanning each person carefully. At first, he didn't seem to register the fact that his grandson was present. Then he recoiled, the letters in his mouth refusing to come out as recognizable words.

The Vice Admiral regained his speech, before screeching, several veins popping out on his forehead, "Luffy! What are you doing here!"

"Gyaa!" Luffy's joints seemed to tightened and he toppled over as he tried to step back, "Grandpa!"

Zoro's eyebrows arched, "G-Grandpa?"

Coby stared, because he felt like that was all he could manage to do.

Luffy scrambled to his feet, grabbing Zoro by the collar and screaming, "Coby, let's go!"

Yet Coby stood, both fists balled. The smaller teen scrunched up his face in determination.

"Luffy-san! Zoro-san! Go! If I'm going to become a marine, then I need to stay!"

The straw hat-wearing teenager grinned before hauling Zoro away, "Okay! See ya!"

He turned and ran as Zoro struggled to free himself from his grasp. Coby smiled, wanting to wave back to Luffy and shout his thanks.

The teenager steeled himself before opening his mouth again, "Vice Admiral Garp!"

The cry rang through the air, even reaching the ears of Luffy and Zoro. Garp gazed at the pink-haired boy, trying not to run after his rebellious grandson in anger and teach him a few lessons with his fist.

"What do you want, kid?"

Coby stared at the much taller man, gulping nervously. _T_ _his is it. I'm going to fulfill my dream._

"Please let me join the marines, sir!"

* * *

Zoro's fingers ran down the Wado Ichimonji's blade, "So she got kidnapped, huh?"

His haki had worn off an hour ago. To his dismay, it became hard to move his limbs, and, try as he might, he couldn't reactivate his haki. Luffy's head bobbed up and down to confirm it, "That's the other reason Marco, Thatch, and Ace left the New World. They said that Sabo told Law a year ago, but they still can't find her. Ace said something about Sabo entering the Grandline. Law's coming too."

"So what're we supposed to do?"

"First, I'm going to find Ace and the others, then, I guess we'll get a new crewmate. How about a musician?"

Zoro rolled his eyes, haven forgotten of Luffy's carefree attitude, "Why am I even here?"

Completely ignoring Zoro's reaction, Luffy brought his hand to his chin, "We need new crewmates, so we can rescue Robin. Who do you suggest?"

"I dunno."

"What?"

"You're the captain."

"Right. Musician it is."

"I hope I don't regret this."

* * *

The two strange people gaped at Ace, slightly shaking. Ace tilted his head, a look of confusion on his face.

"So, who are you again?"

The first stranger stepped forward, still shaking, donning a green suit and red scarf with a crown atop his red hair and the number nine written on each cheek.

"Y-you guys... You're part of Whitebeard's crew, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Ace gazed at the two with an eyebrow raised, "So?"

The other stranger, a girl with flowing, blue hair tied in a ponytail clenched her fist and stepped forward, her voice filled with arrogance, "If you don't want us to hurt you, then let us pass."

Her arrogance seemed short-lived as Ace raised his hand, already forming into a fist, and lit it. Both squeaked and stumbled back, eyeing the ablaze fist. Then, the soft 'puru puru puru' of a mini Den Den Mushi reached his ears and he extinguished his fist.

"Ah, do what you want," He turned away, ignoring the scuffle of feet and the snail being answered. What really caught his attention was the voice on the other side of the call. The twenty-year-old whipped around and crept back, trying not to move around too much and make his beads clink together. He pressed against the tree, listening intently. As he heard the voice once more, he confirmed his suspicions. _Can't believe this._

"Very good," The voice spoke, "Return immediately."

The guy with two nines on his face responded, "Okay."

As they ended the call, Ace snuck up and grabbed them by the collar.

"Sorry to barge in but it appears you know something I want to know. Care to join me?"

He ignored them as they profusely shook their heads, "Good. Let me introduce you to my friends."

As he dragged the squirming pair away, Ace tried to contain his excitement. Their first lead in two years! Marco was gonna be so happy. He couldn't help but smile when Marco and Thatch spotted him dragging his two captives.

"Marco, Thatch! Tie those two up and let's question them. I believe I've solved our two-year mystery!"

He dropped the two on the deck, a wide smile still on his face. Thatch ran up to him looking confused.

"What do you mean? And who are these people?"

"Nevermind who they are. I have a hunch weirdos 1&2 are our key to finding Robin!"

* * *

 **A/N: Fine! Now that the Shells Town arc is over with, we can move on to Orangetown! Will Garp allow Coby to become a marine? What will become of Morgan? Do you know who weirdos 1 &2 are? I plan on blurring the lines between the East Blue and Alabasta arcs a little to fit with the next turn of events. There will be some major deviations from the canon storyline. Right now, I can say that Alabasta, Water 7, and Marineford will be the most different of all the story arcs. That might change in the future. Thank you for all the support on the last chapter. As this story goes on, stuff will start making way more sense. This will be all, for now.**

 **Next Week: The Orange Thief of Orangetown**


	12. The Orange Thief of Orangetown

**Disclaimer**

 **At least I own the story plot**

* * *

 **The Orange Thief of Orangetown**

* * *

"I'll ask one more time... Who. Are. You?"

Weirdos 1&2 stared at Marco, shaking and gulping but still unyielding. The division commander cursed under his breath before turning to the other commanders leaning against the wooden walls.

"To no avail. They just won't crack! Are you sure you heard what you said you heard?"

Ace nodded, both arms were crossed, "With my own two ears."

"Well, we're just going to have to make them talk," Thatch concluded.

Marco briefly nodded before stepping outside for fresh air. An air of silence passed before another word was uttered.

"Hey, Thatch," The younger man's fingers shot up to take off his hat, revealing his messy hair, and examined it, "Have you noticed Marco hasn't been the same since Robin's kidnapping?"

The 4th division commander glanced at the bound pair before moving to the corner, where Ace was, "Who hasn't. He brought her here. And just like I feel responsible for you and your brothers, he feels responsible for her. I bet he's still blaming himself."

"I mean, he doesn't eat as much, and he rarely sleeps. He's not as calm and laid-back as he used to be, and he keeps drifting off."

"I would do the same had it been you or your brothers. Marco brought Robin here to protect her, but, now, she's been abducted and we have no idea of her whereabouts or if she's safe."

"What if it's the navy?"

"There would be something in the newspapers. They wouldn't keep her alive for this long. If the navy is responsible, we might as well give up hope."

"Which we can't afford to do. We have to find Robin as soon as possible. For Oyaji, for us, for her... for Marco..."

They turned to see both weirdos staring intently, no doubt listening to their conversation.

Ace raised an eyebrow as he set his beloved hat back on his head, "What?"

* * *

He had been totally unprepared for this trip. Luffy had never meant to set out the first time, so he didn't bring food. Coby had remembered to ask for food when they left for Shells Town, but he had forgotten to stock up on provisions once they got there. The morning sun shone, illuminating the crystal clear seas. Luffy caught sight of a school of fish swimming past, and an idea struck him. He saw Zoro leaning towards the fish, implying he had the same plan. He thoughtlessly extended his arm backward, ready to fire his hand into the water in order to catch some.

Zoro's hand shot out, grabbing his arm and yelling, "You can't touch the water, idiot!"

"Huh?" Luffy's arm shortened to normal length, "How did you know that? Wait, Zoro, do you have a devil fruit?"

"What? No, I fought a devil fruit user before, that's all."

"Oh," The straw hat-wearing teen turned his attention to the school only to find the fish had departed seconds ago, "Ah, Zoro! Now the fish are gone!"

"Don't blame me! You should've just let me catch them!"

"But you-"

Cries interrupted Luffy and the two turned their attention to the source. They spied three men clinging to a plank, two yelled for a help and one let out a string of curses directed at a girl. A few seconds later, they spotted Luffy and Zoro and began crying out to them.

"Help us!"

"Save us!"

"C'mon, damn it!"

Without waiting for any confirmation they could board the sailboat, they clambered on. The first stranger drew a knife, a nasty sneer spread across his face.

The first stranger drew a knife, a nasty sneer spread across his face, "Alright, chumps, you cooperate, I let you off easy, got it?"

Stranger no. 1 then faced two fists and a vast ocean. The remaining strangers decided to yield to the duo because the last thing they wanted to do was take a dip in sea king-infested waters. After Stranger no. 3 pointed out Luffy and Zoro's true identities and they panicked for a moment or two, the strangers graciously offered to show them to the next island. They reached land as the sun reached its peak and dismissed the strangers(or rather, the strangers dismissed themselves).

"Isn't this supposed to be a town?" Zoro inquired, "I don't see anyone here."

Luffy glanced at the town, "That is strange. Well, whatever. Let's go find a crewmate."

* * *

One. Two. Three. Four. A swing of the treasury door. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Swipe the key and break in. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Grab the map and run like hell. Step by step, she got her hands on the target. Then, she was spotted. The expert thief hightailed out of there, silently berating herself for being found out. In and out the alleyways, through the barren streets, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't shake the trio of pirates of her tail. The thief glanced over her shoulder before crashing into an object. She toppled over, the map flew out of her hand. Supporting herself with her right arm, she raised her head to look up at the thing she had crashed into. No, not thing, person. Wait, a person? In Buggy's stronghold? The thief scampered back and two hands gripped her arms.

"Hey, where are you going in such a rush? Why doncha stay a while, thief?" The thief gulped. That was the voice of one of her pursuers.

She gazed at the person she had bumped into, a lean boy around sixteen or seventeen donning a red vest, blue shorts, and an old but well-worn straw hat. There was a scar under his left eye. She noticed that there was another person next to him, seemingly older and definitely taller, wearing a white shirt, a haramaki, black pants, and boots. A bandanna was tied around his left bicep and three katanas were at his right.

"Oh," The boy in the straw hat started, "Who're you guys?"

The thief's mind went blank for a moment. Then, her instinct kicked in, "Oh, boss! You came to save me! I'll just leave these two to you!" She took advantage of the surprise shown by her captors, who loosened their grip and allowed her to slip out of their grasp. The thief bounded away, trying not to look as she heard swords being drawn. She felt a bit guilty because she was had a heart, unlike pirates, but it was safe to assume the two would be alright seeing that the second guy had weapons. The thief froze in her footsteps as she heard a voice calling out to her. She whipped around and let out a small cry of surprise. The three pirates from before were down and the two strangers stood unharmed in any way.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! Thatch, Ace, and Marco are trying to find out about Robin's whereabouts, Luffy and Zoro are looking for a new crewmember, and they've, literally, bumped into Nami. I planned for this chapter to be the entire Orangetown arc, but I don't have enough time to write it. Oh well, I never do things according to plan, anyway.**

 **Next Chapter: Why Buggy Hates Straw Hats**


	13. Why Buggy Hates Straw Hats

**Disclaimer**

 **Curse you, copyright!**

* * *

 **Why Buggy Hates Straw Hats**

* * *

Oh, the things he'd do to Straw Hat once he got his hands on him. Maybe he'd behead him. And drown the girl. Or should he bind the girl with chains and drown her. No, he should drown Straw hat because he's a fruit user!

"Nevermind Straw Hat!" He screeched as he felt himself fall, "If I don't do something, I'll drown!"

He writhed, trying to break free of the ropes restricting him but to no avail, "Damn it!"

* * *

 **A few hours ago**

"Hmm, you're pretty strong to be able to defeat those three," Nami noted, "But you realize those are Buggy's crewmates, right?"

The shorter one scrunched his face up in confusion, "Who?"

"Buggy," The one with the mossy hair explained, "One of the strongest pirates in the East Blue."

"Oh," The short guy cupped his chin for a few seconds before turning back to her, "Hey, where is everyone, anyway?"

"Buggy drove them out," She replied, a slight frown appeared on her face. Guess they weren't from around here.

"So, he's that kind of pirate," The look on his face changed to one of loathing.

"Most pirates are, Luffy," His swordsman companion folded his arms and turned to Nami, "Who're you? An enemy?" As he mentioned enemy, his hand drew his sword out of his sheath, its blade glinted maliciously in the sun.

Nami shifted uncomfortably. One mistake could spell her doom. Choosing her words carefully, she made her way over.

"I'm Nami. And, it's alright. I'm on your side," She mentioned as she watched the boy with locks of ebony, Luffy, apparently, relax. The other one's eyes lingered on her a bit more before slowly sheathing his katana. She could tell this one didn't trust her. Ah, well, one out of two was good enough. Now, it was time to strike the deal.

"You know, we could team up. I'm a thie-err, treasure hunter. I can split my treasure with you if you protect me from Buggy."

Luffy gazed at her in awe, his eyes took the form off stars, "Wow, a treasure hunter? Cool!" He planted a foot firm on the ground, the sound echoed throughout the empty town, "Alright! Join my crew, treasure hunter girl!"

Nami froze, wondering if she heard wrong, "Excuse me?"

"Join my crew!" He repeated, this time with a yell.

She staggered back, wanting to get as far from these two as possible, "Are you... pirates?"

They stared back at her, the taller one was obviously trying to read her and Luffy just looked confused.

"Yeah," He answered, "And I want you to join our crew."

She didn't know whether to run or throw something at that boy. Her hands balled into fists, "J-join a pirate's crew? Why would I do such a thing? Forget about the deal, you despicable wretches."

She walked off, trying to forget the fact she almost struck up a deal with a pirate. However, a question lingered on her mind. _Why didn't they attack me, especially after I had left them with those three?_ She quickly dismissed the thought. They were pirates, it didn't matter because they were all terrible people. She gritted her teeth and picked up the pace.

* * *

"Strange woman," Zoro told Luffy afterward, "One minute, she wants us to be her protectors and then suddenly she hates us."

The black-haired boy made eye contact with his first crewmate, "Something's bothering her. Like she's worried about something."

"How can you tell?"

"Ace used to have that vibe."

"Why?"

"I'd tell you, but then he'd kill me. He doesn't want anyone to find out that Gold Roger is his dad."

Something that sounded somewhere between a loud gasp and the word 'what' came out off the swordsman's mouth. After quickly regaining his composure, he turned to Luffy with an exasperated look, "You just told me you couldn't tell anyone!"

"I told you? Well, I'm sure Ace'll forgive me."

 _If I were him, I'd strangle you,_ Zoro eyed his captain and deeply sighed. They continued walking until Luffy made a loud protest through his stomach.

"Ugh... can't leave," The seventeen-year-old groaned and collapsed, "...Need food..."

"You're right," He announced, "Think your conscience can deal with stealing food?"

"I do that all the time."

"Of course," He changed course, now heading for a vacant tavern, "Mine doesn't mind it, either."

* * *

Her eyes scanned Buggy's map, her map, and she released all the bubbly excitement in a smile.

"This is perfect. There's a lot of treasure in the Grandline, so I'll reach 100,000,000 in no time. But..."

Nami's mind flashed back to when she swiped the map. Surrounding it was enough treasure to warrant her only one trip to the Grandline in order to reach 100,000,000. Perhaps even a little something extra, just for her. No, _he'd_ never allow it. Unless she hid it from him. Nami continued debating whether to get some money for herself, unable to notice the man on the unicycle, watching and bidding his time.

* * *

Luffy's loud chewing filled the tavern, much to Zoro's chagrin. The swordsman shook the bottle in his hand, listening to the swishing liquid. Almost empty. He sighed softly, lifting himself up.

"Hey, Luffy, I'm gonna get more sake from the other bar. Stay here."

The younger pirate nodded, his cheeks were stuffed and moving. Zoro sauntered off as he finished the last of the drink. While he made his way over to the bar three buildings down, he could hear muffled footsteps, like whoever was walking had padded his feet. Soon, a large lion was visible. The lion had a man with an odd hairstyle that made him look like a... lion?

 _Another one of Buggy's goons?_ He guessed as his swords made their way out of their sheaths, a subconscious instinct he had developed from the days he spent trapped in that cursed moving jungle.

The man atop the beast frowned as he noticed him, "Are you one of those thieves?"

"Thieves?" Zoro's swords reentered their sheaths, but his hand never let the hilt go, "There are thieves?"

"Oh, then I guess you'r-wait! I know you! You're Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter!"

"What's it to you?"

The man jumped off the beast's back, landed, and declared, "I am Mohji! Vice Captain of the Buggy Pirates! I see you've come to take Captain Buggy's head! Well, you'll have to go through me first!"

Once again, the blades of Zoro's swords were visible, "I've given up bounty hunting. But, if you insist on fighting me, go wild."

Mohji grinned in satisfaction, "Very well. Richie!"

The lion growled in response, giving Zoro a malicious glare.

"Get him!"

The lion, Richie, growled again before launching its huge body into the air, claws extended and maw wide open with all of its sharp teeth on display. He placed the Wado Ichimonji into his mouth and brought his left sword in the path of the big cat. Richie jumped back, circling him and maintaining eye contact. Zoro gritted his teeth and tried to activate Busoshoku Haki again. No luck. _Damn._ He rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding Richie's next attack. Pivoting, the green-haired swordsman whirled around and slashed the lion's side. Richie roared in pain and pounced, tackling Zoro. He squirmed, avoiding the lion's giant biting attacks. With all his strength, he shoved Richie off and buried his right blade into the lion's flesh.

"Richie!" Mohji's scream rang out through the air. Richie, paying no heed to his owner, scampered off whimpering.

The swordsman grinned, "Well, well. No lion, huh. You can still fight, can't you?" No answer. "Can't you?" He asked again, though he already knew the answer.

"Y-yes! O-of course! What make you think I only rely on R-Richie!"

"That's good. I needed a warm-up and that lion was only half the exercise," Zoro readied his swords, "Don't disappoint."

That was all it took. Mohji yelped and scrambled off, tripping as he ran. The moss-haired swordsman sheathed his swords and headed off with the intention of finding a bar filled with bottles of sake but in the direction of the docks.

* * *

How could she be so careless? Shivers ran down her spine and her anger boiled, threatening to blow and cause a furious eruption. She hadn't seen the man on the unicycle. What did Buggy call him, Cabaji? It didn't matter. Now, she was being held captive aboard Buggy's ship. Unless she could find a way to grab the map and make a run for it without A) being seen or B) being caught, again, her odds of survival were... At that moment, a blessing in the form of a straw hat-wearing boy arrived.

"Hey, who're all of you?" He asked, scratching his head and surveying the place. His eyes skimmed over Nami and it took three seconds for him to recognize her, "Nami? Why are you in a cage?"

"Captain Buggy!" A voice from the crowd announced, "It's him! The thief's boss!"

"So you're the mastermind?" Another voice asked, "The one who dares mess with Buggy the Clown?"

A man with a face resembling a clown's, most notably the bright red nose. Luffy stared at Buggy for a few more seconds before remarking, "That's one big nose."

What's worse, he emphasized the 'big'.

Gasps and yells of surprise came from the pirate's underlings. Buggy's face turned shades of red as bright as his nose.

"What did you say about my nose?"

The black-haired boy frowned, "I said it's big. What, you didn't hear?"

Nami stopped watching and started inching towards the key a few feet away. However, when the clown captain's hand detached from the rest of his arm, she couldn't help but turn her eyes and watch. The teen didn't even flinch, just sidestepped the attack. Buggy's hand rebounded, aiming for his back but Luffy whirled around and stomped the disembodied hand thirty feet from his location. She tried to contain her surprise when she saw his leg stretch but failed miserably. Luckily for her, the rest of the pirates' attention stayed fixated on the fight. Buggy winced and summoned his hand back.

"So, you're a devil fruit user too. I-"

The pirate was interrupted by Luffy's elongated fist, which decided to end the fight there. The Buggy pirates gaped for a few seconds before deciding that it would be best to abandon ship. He turned towards her, a victorious smile present on his face.

"So, why are you in a cage?"

"Just get me out," She growled. He shrugged, grabbed the key, and opened the cage.

"So, are you going to join my crew now?"

"I already told you no!"

"Aw, but it'll be fun!"

"Fun? _Fun?"_

"Yeah!"

She rolled her eyes and began heading for the treasure chamber. Luffy, weirdly enough, followed her.

"Well, do you know a navigator? Or a musician, or a cook, or a-"

"No, so stop asking!"

"Oh," He responded dejectedly.

She turned to look at him, wondering why his voice had lost enthusiasm so fast. Then, he groaned what seemed like a groan of frustration.

"I wish Ace was here! There was a navigator back on the ship."

Another pause followed the comment.

"Why are you still following me?" She inquired as they reached the ship's treasure chamber.

No answer. Then, he replied in a whiny voice, "Why won't you join my crew?"

"Are you still on that?" She exclaimed. Suddenly, she was plunged into thought, _What if I formed a team with him. Temporarily, of course. No, not with a pirate. But he did save my life. And he doesn't seem to bad. Maybe, it is possible._ Just then, as she hefted up the bags filled with Buggy's riches, she heard the roar suggesting that the clown pirate was conscious again.

"Straw Hat! You're a dead man!"

Luffy grinned, "That's our cue to leave!"

Before he could do anything, Buggy appeared, "Straw Hat!"

"Sorry, Buggy, but you have to go flying."

"What?"

Luffy's palms connected with Buggy's torso and the pirate went flying with a powerful whomp. In the next second, he grabbed Nami and they shot off. After landing, rather destructively, I might add, Nami proposed her idea to Luffy.

"You'll join my crew?"

"No, this is an alliance. I jus-"

"I can't wait to tell Zoro! I can't wait to tell Ace! Are you a navigator, or better yet, a musician?"

"I'm the best navigator on these seas."

"Oh," He said in a slightly depressed tone.

"You got a navigator, what's with that voice?"

His face brightened, "Let's go find Zoro!"

Nami was beginning to believe she had bitten more than she could chew.

* * *

Zoro stared at the boat drifting away from the island. Why did he trust Luffy to tie a proper knot? Why didn't he see this coming? And most importantly, where was the freaking bar? He groaned before diving into the water. Minutes afterwards, he caught up to the boat and clambered on. Shortly after both of his legs were in the small sailboat, a sea king burst through the waves. He took care of the creature of the deep but, as he sheathed his sword and prepared to turn the boat towards the island, he saw no land over the horizon. That was weird, did the boat really sail that far? He shrugged and turned towards the island.

* * *

Now he knew why that kid's hat seemed so familiar. And why he instantly hated him as soon as he set eyes on him. That idiot Shanks has got him at every turn. Even when he wasn't near him, he still managed to make his life miserable. Straw Hat will pay. And when he finally killed the bastard, he'd burn that damned hat too. The clear blue of the ocean drew nearer and nearer and Buggy's hate for the Straw Hat deepened farther and farther. He plunged into the ice cold depths and he felt his strength fade. But a hand grasped his arm and dragged him to the surface. His head was tilted away from his rescuer. However, it appeared they came from a ship that was, thankfully, not Navy HQ's. His benefactor lay him down, and he managed to turn his head in order to see his face. Staring back at him was a man with coal eyes, black hair, freckles, and an orange cowboy hat.

* * *

 **A/N: It's finally done! Sorry I took so long to update. A combination of forgetfulness, responsibilities, and plain procrastination delayed this chapter's release. The Orangetown arc is finally finished. Nami joined the crew, Zoro's out at sea, and Buggy landed himself in the sea but luckily someone was there to rescue him. I'll try to update again Sunday or Monday, though, I can't guarantee it. An alternate name for this title is, 'The Man Who Looks Like a Clown and the Man Who Acts Like a Clown.**

 **Next time: The Directionally Impaired Swordsman's Adventures**


	14. TDISA

**Disclaimer**

 **At this point, I shouldn't have to say it anymore.**

* * *

 **The Directionally Impaired Swordsman's Adventures(TDISA)**

* * *

Blue. Blue as far as the eye could see. He was surrounded by blue. Blue wasn't even his favorite color. He had no idea oceans moved, too. Why was that even possible? As the small boat cruised through the lazy waves, a small dot caught Zoro's eye. At first, he ignored it as the rolling seas of blue made it seem quite insignificant. But as the dot grew bigger and bigger, so did his hope. Not that he'd lost any. Soon, the island was back in view. However, it seemed... different. There was no harbor neither could he see Luffy. Surely the idiot realized he was missing. Or did he get lost? What bothered the swordsman most was the harbor's disappearance. Perhaps he had sailed around the entire island. That was probably it. A figure suddenly came into view. _Luffy! That idiot finally shows._ But, as he trained his eyes on the person, he realized that his captain's most prized possession was missing from its usual spot. Atop the seventeen-year old's head. As his boat neared the shores, he could see the stranger properly. Tall, black-haired, glasses, suit. The stranger seemed to spot him and stared at his boat as it drew nearer. Zoro exited the small sailboat, beached it, and cautiously approached the man.

The stranger spoke first, "Who are you?"

"That's my line," His hand gripped his hilt and his eyes stayed fixed on the man.

The man squinted his eyes, as if deep in thought, adjusting his glasses shortly after, "I am Klahadore, a simple dweller of this island. Now can you introduce yourself?"

"Roronoa Zoro, former bounty hunter. Any other questions?"

"None. I do, however, have a request for the infamous Pirate Hunter. My town has been troubled by bandits. If you would be so kind as to dispose of her."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"I thought you'd ask that," A smile spread across his face, "How does ten million sound?"

It was his turn to grin, "I would've been happy with food and directions, but ten million berries is even better."

Klahadore's smile did not waver, "I'm just happy you will rid this town of that menace. Be careful, Zoro-san. They will attempt to lie and stop you. Do not listen to them."

Just then, his stomach made a loud statement on the subject of food. Klahadore lightly chuckled, "You seem to be hungry. Come, let me get you a place to eat and rest. You can take down our problem tomorrow."

* * *

Jango gazed at his former captain in confusion, "You want us to change our plans?"

"Yes," Kuro pushed up his glasses, "We have a new factor to take into account. Instead of storming the mansion as intended, lead your men to this clearing at the crack of dawn." He pointed to a treeless area not too far from the circled mansion on the map, "Then, you come to the mansion, I will provide a cover for you. You are to go with it. Go to the mistress' room, do what we discussed. After that, hide in the closet and wait for me."

"That's it?"

"Yes. I sent all the servants with the exception of one on vacation. The remaining one will be easy to take care of."

"This is perfect! Full-proof! Flawless!"

"It is. And remember. Everything must go according to plan."

* * *

When he awoke, Klahadore was there. The tall man led him into town and paid for his food. Afterward, the two entered the woods adjacent the peaceful town. Klahadore rarely spoke to him, which he didn't mind. He probably felt uncomfortable talking to him, he did have a very bad reputation. Suddenly, after hours and hours of what should've been a 30-minute walk, the older man stopped in his tracks. It seemed to be the crack of dawn

He turned around and cleared his throat, "Beyond here is a clearing. The bandits have set up camp here. Farther than that is a mansion. That is where the bandit leader resides. Clear the mansion of everyone in it."

"Why?"

"It used to belong to my dear uncle. That is before he was killed. Now the mansion belongs to me."

"Then I get my reward?"

"As promised."

Zoro gave a small nod. He drew his swords and placed them in their usual positions, then burst through bushes. The lot certainly looked like bandits, so he knew the glasses-wearing Klahadore was not lying. Good. The first few smartened up, drawing their weapons and charging. He sliced them easily. More bandits began to attack, but, even though he was badly outnumbered, the bandits were badly outmatched. In the span of five minutes, the last bandit fell to his blades. He sheathed them and sprinted away, off to finish the job.

* * *

Jango looked to his right, then to his left. No one. Perfect. He slowly twisted the doorknob and silently entered. A young girl with long, blonde hair gazed out her open window as if expecting someone. He took one step at a time, pulling out his ring-blade as he did so. The girl's head swiveled, upon seeing him, her face morphed into one of confusion. He began to swing his ring-blade back and forth, like a pendulum.

"When I say one, two, Jango, you will do the following. Take this piece of paper, write 'I give all my possessions to my butler Klahadore upon my death'. Then, sign it. You will then forget you ever did such a thing. Okay, one. Two. Jango!"

She wrote down what he said and signed it. As she was writing he turned to slip into the closet when he saw Kuro holding a mop.

"I've completed the job, Captain Ku-" He felt a foreign object in his stomach. Glancing down, he saw a knife handle. His eyes widened as he realized the blade was inside him. Sticky blood dripped on Kuro's hand and the floor.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?"

Blood began flowing out faster. Jango could feel his strength leave him, "I-it all makes sense." His vision became blurry, "I'm the new factor." His voice dropped in sound levels.

"No, actually. Blame the new factor for your death."

The pirate collapsed onto the floor. Kuro frowned as he carried Jango's body to the closet. He got some blood on his clothes. Now he had to go change. Propping the lifeless hypnotist against the closet's wall, he threw in the bloodied knife, for good measure.

He removed his suit jacket and mopped up the blood, "This isn't how I like to dispose of people, but it'll do. No hard feelings, Jango. You were just in the way. And whatever is in my way will meet its end." He finished mopping and slipped out as quietly as he slipped in just as Kaya wrapped up her will. He could taste his victory. All that remained was to take care of the rest of the evidence.

* * *

He heard a yelp as he slashed the door, destroying a section of the wall in the process. Behind it was a girl with blonde hair holding a book and a pen. The room was devoid of other people.

"Are you the bandit leader?" He asked as the girl gaped at him, or, more accurately, his swords.

"Bandit leader? I'm not a bandit leader! My name is Kaya!"

"You're not the bandit leader who's been terrorizing this town? Is there e-" He stopped as he saw a pool of crimson emerge from the closet doors. Zoro frowned, approaching the door, swords at the ready. His hand wrapped around the handle and he pulled carefully. He sharply inhaled at the bloody man stuffed in the closet, a small knife buried in his stomach. Zoro clenched his teeth, he recalled Klahadore saying to him that she may lie. Whirling around, he drew out his two nameless swords.

"Nice try, bandit."

He charged, holding his swords out like a rhino's horns and spun himself in **Sai Kuru** fashion. He could see the girl flinch, waiting for the blades when...

 **"Hissatsu:** **Kayaku Boshi!"** He felt a small pellet hit his face. A few milliseconds later, it exploded, changing his direction and adding some momentum. He felt himself crash into something hard. Zoro clambered out of the rubble, rubbing his back and groaning. A boy in brown overalls, an extremely unusual nose and with black hair underneath a green bandanna stood next to the girl, helping her up. He lifted himself up, glaring at the long-nosed boy. His left hand unsheathed the _Wado Ichimonji_ and put it in its position. Zoro shifted his stance, crossing his two sword arms in front of his mouth blade.

 **"Oni... Giri!"** He charged towards them at breakneck speed. Before his swords could harm either of them, a fist buried itself into his side. He could feel several of his ribs crack. Once again, his course changed from the two frightened teenagers to the wall. He could taste blood as he scrambled to escape the rubble on top of him. Zoro growled as he saw his attacker's feet. Sandals. He lacked the energy to lift his head, but he recognized the voice that spoke.

"Huh? Zoro? What the hell are you doing?"

* * *

 **A/N: It's done. I think it'll be one or two more chapters until the Syrup Village Arc is done. I don't write about the named attacks often, when I do, they will be in bold letters. The next update may come Saturday or Sunday but the week after's update may not be as fast. Starting from August 1, I get less time to write these, unfortunately.**

 **Next week: The Pirate and the Warrior of the Sea**


	15. Difference

**Disclaimer**

 _ **The** **Adventures of Fanfictioneer 101**_

 **Last time we saw our hero, Fanfictioneer 101  
was fighting the not-so-evil Dr. Eiichiro Oda in  
order to steal-uh, I mean, rescue the popular  
manga, _One Piece._ Go hero!**

* * *

 **Difference**

* * *

"Zoro? Zoro, where are you?" Luffy's brows creased into a frown, "He should be here." The straw hat-wearing pirate scanned the area, both physically and with haki.

Nami emerged from the last bar's doors, "He's not in there."

"He's not on the island," Luffy declared.

Her face contorted into confusion, "Where did he go? He wouldn't have gone out to sea without you, would he?"

Just then, he detected a new presence. The person hid behind a building, occasionally peeking at them.

"Hey," He yelled, making the person gasp, "Who are you?"

Hesitantly, the person crept up forwards, eyes fixated on him. An old man holding a quivering spear opened his mouth to speak. It took some time for the words to come.

"I-I am this town's mayor, and I have come to take it back! Leave and never return, Buggy pirates, before I-I-I force you out!"

"What? I'm not Buggy. I'm looking for my friend. I kicked Buggy of the island while ago."

The mayor's eyes widened, "Y-you did?"

Luffy turned away, "But, anyway, where'd Zoro run off to? Did he get lost?"

"Does your friend have green hair, wear a haramaki, and carry three swords?" He asked as Luffy began to walk off.

"Yeah, that's Zoro. Did you see him?"

The mayor gave a nod, "I saw him sail away from the island."

"What?" Nami exclaimed, "Does he even know how to navigate?

"No. He gets lost a lot," Luffy mentioned.

Once again, Nami began to ask herself whether teaming with Luffy and his Zoro friend was really a good idea.

Luffy grinned widely at the mayor, "Thanks, old man!"

But he shook his head, "No, I should thank you. Without your good deed, we would never have gotten back our town."

He chuckled as he secured his hat from a particularly strong wind, "I like you, old man, your hairstyle's cool."

Another gale blew through Nami's hair, this one stronger than the last, "Luffy," She said, "We can't head out now. There's a big storm coming."

The seventeen-year old's face formed a frown, "What? We have to wait?"

The mayor gestured towards a house with an ajar door, "Come now. I have a place for you to wait out the storm."

As they made their way to the house, the mayor, whose name was Boodle, explained how Buggy drove them out, and the conditions they had been living in these past weeks. After they reached the house, Boodle left, saying he had to inform the townspeople of the good news.

* * *

The storm continued throughout the day. The next morning, sunlight shone through gaps in the cloud, gracing untouched corners of the town. After bidding farewell to the citizens of Orangetown and loaded Nami's treasure bags(formerly Buggy's) into the boat Nami arrived in, they set off. Nami unfolded a map of the East Blue.

"Okay," She scanned for the dot marking Orangetown, "We'll search all of the islands close by. The nearest one seems to be... the Gecko Islands. It's the outermost island is home to a small village by the name of Syrup Village."

"Alright!" Luffy jumped suddenly, causing the boat to sway, "Let's go find Zoro!"

* * *

Three days afterward, the sailboat's hull struck land, causing some damage.

Nami examined it. She was no shipwright, but she knew that was bad, "Luffy, we need to get a ship on this island, I don't think this boat can sail anymore."

"Okay," He was already walking up the giant slope leading to the forest, "We'll find Zoro and a ship. A really big one! Like Oyaji's!"

 _Oyaji?_ She silently inquired as she beached the boat. The orange-haired girl began to approach the slope when she heard a voice.

"Turn back now, pirates, or face my wrath! I shall command my eight thousand men to deal with you if you do not retreat!" Flags marked with a surprised-looking Jolly Roger shot upwards from underneath the underbrush.

"Eight thousand? Cool!" Luffy glanced at the bushes, awe written all over his face, "Huh? Where are they?"

The voice replied, with a hint of panic, "Y-you can't see them, they're hidden!"

"I could see them with my haki. But I don't."

Nami rolled her eyes, "Isn't it obvious? He's lying."

"Ahh!" The voice exclaimed. The thud of a person falling reached their ears, "Crap!" They heard the voice say in a hushed tone, "I've been found out!"

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, his face showed minor exasperation.

A teenager's upper body emerged from hiding. The teen wore a bandanna, overalls, a blue and white armband, and possessed a nose neither Nami nor Luffy had never seen upon another being's face. He held a slingshot, loaded with a small, grey pellet.

"I-I am the great Ca-Captain Usopp, defender of this village! Step any further and I c-c-can not assure your safety!"

Despite the apparently great Captain Usopp's warning, Luffy stepped forward anyway. The teen released the slingshot's rubber band and the pellet streaked towards the straw hat-wearing teen. The gomu gomu human brought his hand in front of him, imbued it with haki, and simply flicked it away. As it hit the ground, the pellet exploded violently.

* * *

Usopp gaped at the pirate, shaking. The hand that held his slingshot was now empty.

"I knew it..." He whispered softly, "Real pirates are so much stronger."

"Hey, are you gonna tell me who you are?"

He jolted as the pirate's cry reached his ears. What was he going to do? He would be killed just because he thought he could take a real pirate. He glanced around looking for his three crewmates. _They left._ That made sense. He should have when he had the chance too.

"Hey, Long-nose! You kinda look like Yasopp. Are you his son?"

All of his fear was washed away, leaving only intense curiosity, "Y-you know my dad?"

"Yeah! Usopp, right? He used to tell me so much about you. Too much, actually, he'd never stop talking about you."

Usopp burst out of the bushes, happiness filled him, "What was he like?"

The straw hat-wearing pirate said, "I told you. He never stopped talking about you."

"Don't you know more about him?" He asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

"Well, he's really good at shooting stuff. And he's the sharpshooter of the Red-Haired pirates. And he looks a lot like you and... He's in the New World... And..." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "He's fun. And-"

He offered to lead them to the village's local bar. As Luffy and Nami ate(gobbling up food would better describe the former's eating), Usopp asked Luffy for details of his father, most of which he could not deliver.

"I bet he misses you, but I don't know exactly where he is now."

"Oh," His face flickered between disappointment at not knowing his father's exact whereabouts and happiness that he still cared.

He kept pestering Luffy, this time about being a pirate. He felt annoyed when Luffy simply answered 'it's fun' or 'it's great'. Most of the time, the pirate would snap at him for bothering him. After they finished eating, Luffy and Nami left, presumably leaving. He trekked towards Kaya's mansion, the soft breeze blew through his wooly hair.

"Hey, Usopp!" He heard a now familiar voice call out to him.

"Luffy," He turned to see him, "I thought you were leaving. What happened?

"Nami said we need a new ship. D'you know where we could get one?"

"I have a friend, I think she can help. Her name's Kaya."

"Awesome!" A smile spread across his face. The pirate joined him, softly humming a song. As they ran through the dense forest, he turned to Luffy.

"Hey, Luffy, do you think I can become a pirate."

"If you want to."

"Yeah, I know, it's just..." He stopped walking. Luffy looked over shoulder, his face relayed confusion, "I want to be a brave warrior of the sea, not a pirate."

"You want to be a marine?"

"No! I want to be a pirate and a brave warrior of the sea!"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No, no, no! There's a difference!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"What's the difference?"

"Not all pirates are brave. But if you're a brave warrior of the sea, you have to be! It's in the name!" He raised his slingshot as sunlight shone down on him, "I want to brave! Like a brave warrior of the sea! Like my father! Like... you!"

The teen pirate gazed at him for a while before rubbing his head with a pleased look, "Aw! Stop it~! You're brave, too~!"

Minutes following that conversation, they entered a small clearing. Several bodies were strewn everywhere. Puddles of blood trailing from stomachs dyed the emerald grass crimson. Luffy ran towards a man who began to stir.

"Hey, what happened?" He yelled, concerned.

As he interrogated the wounded man, Usopp turned around and ran. _This is the way to Kaya's mansion. Why is there a criminal after Kaya? What does he want, money?_

He burst through the gates and climbed the tree. No one stopped him. No one was there. He bit his lip anxiously as he finally reached the window. A man, roughly two or three years older, with green hair, three golden earrings adorning his ear, a plain white shirt, haramaki, and black shorts. Two of his swords were drawn, one raised in the air, poised to strike. He didn't even think. His hands flew towards his slingshot, loading the gunpowder pellet and firing it. The words came out without him telling them to do so. The force knocked the swordsman into the closet. He raced to Kaya screaming. If that swordsman hurt her... A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he saw she was unhurt. Quivering, but unhurt. The swordsman emerged from underneath the piles of stone and wood. He spat out blood and rose, drawing his final blade. His eyesight became hazy. The words the enemy teen shouted were incomprehensible. His knees knocked together. Usopp gulped about eight times as he watched the swordsman launch himself at them. He could sense Kaya's fear, rivalling his own. He shut his eyes, not wanting to see the blood, not wanting to see anything as he died. Then, he heard a punch connect with flesh, something crash into the door, probably shattering it, and a familiar voice he was so glad to hear, it brought tears to his eyes.

"Huh? Zoro? What the hell are you doing?"

* * *

 **A/N: I kinda feel like I made Zoro seem way too antagonistic through Usopp's eyes. Maybe it's so or maybe not. Anyway, the next chapter may be delayed. I can write these in a day or two, but, thing is, from here on out I've only got two days of freedom. So, hopefully, I can finish the next chapter Saturday or Sunday. I changed this chapter's name because... I just like 'Difference' better. This is all for this chapter. Next chapter will continue were both 14 and 15 left off. The fate of the mastermind of this daring plot is yet to be decided...**

 **...I actually can't decide what to do with him.**

 **Next: Furious Tiger, Vengeful Lizard**


	16. Furious Tiger, Vengeful Lizard

**Disclaimer**

 **I've come down with a nasty case of can't-think-of-a-creative-disclaimer-itis. So... Here...**

* * *

 **Furious Tiger, Vengeful Lizard**

* * *

Luffy gazed at the swordsman's fallen figure, his arms attempting to hoist up the rest of his body.

"What are **you** doing, Luffy? Why the hell are you here?"

Luffy tilted his head, his straw hat shifted as well, "Huh? We were looking for you!"

"We?" Zoro managed to get to his feet, staggering slightly, "What do you mean we?"

"Me and Nami," He answered frankly.

"Nami? You got a new crewmate?"

Luffy's face brightened with the realization he hadn't told Zoro, "Yeah! Nami's our navigator now!"

Zoro chuckled, grinning smugly, "Thought she didn't like pirates."

"Yeah... Wonder why..."

"Hey! You!" Usopp finally found his voice. Luffy whirled around, stunned.

"Ah, Usopp, are you okay?" He ran over to the skinny teen who was still quivering.

"Lu-Luffy! That guy nearly killed us! How can you talk to him like he's your friend?"

"Well, he is," The seventeen-year-old mentioned bluntly, before turning to Zoro, "And why did you attack them?"

"Cause..." He paused, a pondering expression appeared on his face, "That bastard!" Zoro stumbled to the corner where his Wado Ichimonji lay amidst the rubble. His left hand grasped its hilt and pulled the katana up. Its gleaming blade covered in dust, "I'll kill that Klahadore!"

"Klahadore?" Kaya's timid voice asked, "What does Klahadore have to do with this?"

Zoro froze. He whirled around and approached Kaya, who flinched as they made eye contact, "You know him?"

"Y-yes..."

"But he said you were a criminal who took over his mansion!"

Her face paled, "H-he did?"

He nodded curtly and her face whitened further.

"He would never... Klahadore... Klahadore—"

"Liar!" Usopp shouted, his slingshot rained on Zoro, "Don't lie to Kaya!"

"I'm not lying, idiot!"

"How can we trust you? Just minutes ago you tried to kill us! You are—"

"Zoro's not lying," Luffy interjected, drawing the attention of the others.

"What?" Usopp uttered after a minute of confused silence, "Why are you defending him? He tried to kill us!"

"Zoro's my nakama. So I believe him." He answered, gazing at Usopp.

Usopp was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it once again but shut it after a few seconds of silence. His face showed confusion and disbelief as well as a mixture of anger and betrayal battling for dominance of his emotions. While his slingshot was still fixed on Zoro, his face was turned towards Luffy. The straw hat-wearing teen stared into his eyes with a firmness that stated he meant those words. Kaya's eyes never left Zoro, the frail blonde never stopped shivering in fear. Zoro's eyes flickered from Luffy to Usopp, either waiting for the other teen to make a move or awaiting his captain's orders, one hand still gripping his prized sword, his face contorted into a frown. It was he who broke the silence.

"I don't care if you believe me, but I'm gonna say exactly what happened. I landed, he came, I asked for directions, he told me I had to kill the girl first, I agreed and did so."

"No..." Kaya's eyes widened, "He didn't... He wouldn't have..."

Usopp stood rooted to the spot. His eyes jumped from person to person. Kaya, crouching and shivering. Zoro, gripping his sword tightly. Luffy, gazing at him with solemness that didn't fit him.

He glanced at his feet, his knuckles whitened, "Klahadore did this..." He said softly, "Klahadore..." Before he knew what he was doing, he took off, bursting through the remains of the doorway. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't care, either. Every vein in his body was screaming for sweet revenge. He just wanted to see Klahadore's body hit the floor, wanted to see his blood all over the floor. He tried to kill Kaya. _He tried to kill Kaya!_

"Damn it!" His scream rang throughout the mansion.

* * *

The clearing was littered with bodies. Good. That meant the Pirate Hunter had already passed through here. He calmly strolled forward to the mansion, satisfied that his plan was progressing without fail. As he approached the gate, the front door flew open to reveal the village's resident liar. He quickly slipped out of sight as the long-nosed boy flung the gates open. He couldn't resist the wide smile on his face as the teenager stormed off. But the smile left as fast as it came. What if he told the villagers? Would they believe him? Or would they take him seriously at last? He dashed forwards, slipping his special weapons on. This plan would not fail. It would not.

* * *

He sheathed Wado Ichimonji and his other swords, "Damn that long nose. First, he said he doesn't believe me and now he wants that bastard to himself."

"Hey, who's Klahadore?" Luffy asked.

Zoro's expression changed into an unpleasant scowl, "The bastard who tricked me. That's all we need to know." Then, addressing Kaya, he gestured to the body of the man who had fallen out of the closet, "If you're innocent, how do you explain that?"

"I-I don't know! I've never seen that person before!"

Her tone suggested the living daylights had been scared out of her. Cursing himself for being so gullible, Zoro turned around and quickly left. He could here Luffy's voice as he descended the mansion's stairs. As he dashed out the already-open gates, his vision slowly changed to red. Somebody was going to die today. Somebody wearing glasses.

* * *

 **A/N: I like the last two sentences. Which is weird because I wear glasses. I decided to split this chapter in half because writing everything I planned in one chapter would mean I can't finish today. Now, chances are I'll finish this chapter but won't post it till one or two weeks later. My Sundays are jammed pack with activities I can't ditch, unfortunately. Every other day includes work, work, work, more work, work, and... more work. *sigh*. Until next time folks, weeks and weeks later...**

 **... At least I hope not...**

 **Next Week If I'm Really Lucky: Heads Will Roll**


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